A 5th year at Hogwarts
by Lizzy Potter2
Summary: Harry's in danger. Voldemort sends a very strange creature to kill Harry, but is un-sucessful. So, in order for the creature an Voldemort to kill Harry, they go attacking his friends! Which makes his life miserable! He tries to save them, but nearly dies


~*~ From Dusk to Dawn ~*~  
  
~**~ Chapter 1 - The Dementor ~**~  
  
Harry Potter lay on his bed, looking out the window and gazing at the stars. It had been a month since he finally finished his fourth year at Hogwarts and was ready to move on to his fifth. He sighed heavily remembering the tragic moment that had happened last year... A Tri Wizard Tournament Champion by the name of Cedric Diggory, had died...by Lord Voldemort. Harry was going to take the cup but Cedric let Harry have it. Harry declined and they agreed to both take it, but little did they know...it was a portkey, a trap to Lord Voldemort.  
  
Voldemort had killed him and Harry survived and even watched Voldemort's rebirth... The stars were slowly fading, as the sun was about to come up. Harry put the covers over him, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.  
  
"Wake up, boy!" his aunt screeched. Harry woke up and stretched as Aunt Petunia was knocking on the door.  
  
"Get up and make the breakfast!" Harry groaned as he climbed out of bed and went out the door after getting dressed.  
  
Dudley hadn't grown a lot over the summer. But he was still sneaking sweets from the kitchen. Harry walked to the kitchen counter and cut the grapefruit and didn't bother to give himself any (for he had sweets of his own in his room). He set it down on the table and just as he was about to go to his room-  
  
"Not so fast, boy," said Uncle Vernon. "You're going to be doing the house work! Your aunt, Dudley, and I are leaving and we are locking all the doors and windows!" He now walked up to Harry his large purple face an inch away from his. "Mess up the house and I swear I'll-" "I won't mess up the house!" Harry said angrily. Uncle Vernon laughed. "Of course you will! Now get the work done!"  
  
The Dursley's left leaving Harry to the housework. He crept up the stairs and went into Dudley's room. He turned the handle but-it was locked. It was of course no use using magic because this wasn't an emergency-he just wanted to use the computer. Harry heard the sound of a bookcase falling over and chairs being smashed. He ran down stairs as fast as he could. Harry couldn't believe what he saw. [***************************]  
  
A dementor was gliding around the house. Cold, icy shivers ran down Harry's back, as his vision became a sudden blur. But this time...he didn't here his mother...he saw and heard...someone else... [I] "Ah, yes, Wormtail...it will happen...tonight!" said a cold voice. "T-tonight, my lord?" asked the voice of Wormtail. "From Dusk to Dawn...yes...it is going according to plan!" "Ye-yes, my lord, from Dusk to Dawn." [/I] Harry woke up immediately. He was still on the floor of the kitchen and it seemed the Dursley's hadn't came home yet. But how could he have seen a vision when a dementor was near...how? Harry shook off the thought and picked up a mop and got to work. The cold voice was still ringing in his head [I] From Dusk to Dawn [/I], but what did it mean? Harry shook his head slightly just as the door handle turned, which made Harry jump. Uncle Vernon's face turned quickly to red. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HOUSE?" He screeched. "N-nothing happened." Harry lied. Uncle Vernon folded his arms and began to tap his foot. "Fine...if you [I] really [/I] want to know...a dementor, which is a soul sucking fiend that sucks your soul, of course, by using a thing called the dementors kiss, and it was in here! It was in this house and was wrecking things! I honestly think you won't believe me so why should I even bother telling you the truth?" Harry said, setting the mop down.  
  
"A likely story. You're saying a soul sucking..er..("Dementor." Harry cut in.) Came in this house?" he said, anger growing.  
  
"Yes, I am. I know you won't believe me so I'll just be locked into my room for the rest of my life, happy now?" Harry asked. Uncle Vernon looked at him bewildered. An evil grin spread across his face. "Fine then," he said coldly. "If you want to be locked in your room all day, find by me!" he grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him up to his room, and locking the door. Harry sighed as he sat on his bed.  
  
A glimmering light shown from outside his window and the Muggles below on the busy streets didn't seem to notice it. Harry shielded his eyes as the light came closer and it transfigured into a human! The question was.she wasn't a human, or was she?  
  
~**~ Chapter 2 - The Warning ~**~  
  
A woman with long silver hair that was at the bottom of her back, crystal blue eyes, and pale skin.  
  
"Harry Potter," she said in the softest voice Harry had ever heard. "Lord Voldemort has come back! You are no longer safe!" Harry stared at her and she continued to speak, "Take this. (She handed him an emerald jewel that was glowing faintly) It will help you on your journey to find Voldemort.and for him to be destroyed." She said.  
  
"But how can I destroy-" "Listen. You will understand this all when you get to Hogwarts, Mr. Potter. I assure on that." She said, a twinkle in her eyes.  
  
"Pardon my asking but.what is your name?" Harry asked. "My name is A-" but she was cut short by Uncle Vernon barging into the room. And with a flash.she was gone!  
  
"What-were-you-doing?" he panted. "N-nothing." Said Harry nervously getting onto his bed. "Don't try and trick me, boy! I know you were up here doing-something! Something with you-er-abnormality! Yes, that's it." He said, grinning evilly as if thinking of an evil plot.  
  
Uncle Vernon left slamming the door leaving Harry alone.  
  
~**~ Chapter 3 - Back to Hogwarts ~**~ Yes, it was finally time for Harry to go back to Hogwarts. It was 9:30 and he set his alarm to 5:00 (since he had to take a shower before the Dursley's woke up and he'd have to walk there). He crawled into bed after feeding Hedwig. He woke up the next morning, with the sun shining brightly in his face. He could here the faint sound of crickets as he got his things and went into the bathroom. He turned the water on and got inside (not with his clothes on, I hope! DON'T LOOK PEOPLE!) He washed his hair and soon got out after drying off and getting dressed. He combed his hair which it would do no use and he went in his room to get his things packed just as Uncle Vernon had awoken. Hedwig had awoke by a loud belch from Dudley. Harry placed his Firebolt on his trunk just as the sun was rising. He heaved his things downstairs not bothering to get a grapefruit quarter thinking he could get a bite to eat at the Leaky Cauldron on his way to Kings Cross.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Aunt Petunia said angrily. "Where do you think? Hog-my school." He said simply. Harry sniffed and walked out the door with trunk in hand and Hedwig in the other. He walked briskly down the streets as Muggles were running about. Harry ignored them completely just as the town of London came into view about 30 minutes later. He saw the normal Muggle shops he had seen every year and the familiar old, shaggy building known as the Leaky Cauldron. He approached the door and opened it revealing witches and wizards. Harry sat down at a table next to a girl with silky, long brown hair, waist length and dark brown eyes. She turned to him and smiled. "I'm Lizzy Richmond." She said happily.  
  
"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, taking her hand. "I haven't seen you around here much lately."  
  
"Oh," Lizzy smiled. "I'm a transfer from America and I'm coming here to Hogwarts. I heard it's going to be [I] fascinating! [/I]"  
  
"You can meet my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger." Said Harry. Lizzy smiled.  
  
"I'd like that.since I lost my friends in America and they didn't really-er- like me anymore since I became a witch."  
  
"Don't worry! I'm sure they'd be glad to meet you. But, Hermione will probably be asking you questions about America." Lizzy stifled a laugh.  
  
Harry and Lizzy soon got up from the table, grabbed their things, and left for Kings Cross. It finally came into view and they rented trolleys and walked to Platform 9 ¾.  
  
"H-how do we get there?" Lizzy asked. "Ok, you run through toward the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Don't stop and don't be nervous or it won't work." Harry explained. Lizzy nodded as she took a firm grip of the trolley and went through the barrier as Harry went after her.  
  
"See, you made it!" he said smiling. Harry led her onto the train and went to look for Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Where are your friends at?" Lizzy asked. "I don't know." Said Harry slowly. He and Lizzy walked to the back of the compartments and finally spotted them. Harry slid the door open.  
  
"Harry! There you are and-," Hermione said. "[I] Who are you? [/I]" she added to Lizzy.  
  
"Lizzy Richmond. I'm a transfer from America." She said as she shook Hermione's hand.  
  
"So, what's it like in America?" Hermione questioned her. "Are there any schools there? L-like Hogwarts?" Lizzy shrugged. "Possibly. My family moved here and my aunt-who's a witch-thought it would be best for me to come here since she came here when she was younger." Said Lizzy. The train slowly began to move as Ron and Harry started a Wizard Chess game.  
  
"You beat me again!" said Harry angrily as Ron set up the pieces.  
  
"[I] Honestly, [/I] can't you be more quiet?" Hermione snapped.  
  
"Herm, the game of wizard chess is to NOT be quiet!" said Ron smiling. Lizzy giggled. The train started to slow down as Harry looked out of the window. Rain was pouring hard onto the windows but there was no sign that they were at Hogsmeade station.  
  
"You guys, why have we stopped? We're not even at Hogwarts."  
  
Hermione, Ron, and Lizzy came to have a look out of the window and Harry was right, they were in the middle of nowhere. "W-will we ever get back?" Lizzy asked just as the lights flickered. Harry shrugged. The door to the train burst open along with the windows as rain came pouring in.  
  
"WATCH OUT!" Ron screamed. A huge flood of water came into the train. Everyone was soaked from head to toe as they managed to get their pets up high so they wouldn't touch the water.  
  
Harry was losing grip of Hedwig's cage as it slipped from his hands and was about to go out the window.  
  
"HEDWIG!" Harry swam over to her and grabbed her cage. "Hermione! WHERE'S CROOKSHANKS?" Harry asked over the loud noise. Hermione looked around frantically for Crookshanks, but he was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Where is he?" Hermione cried, tears running down her face. "Hermione, we'll find him!" said Lizzy hopefully. Hermione dug her head underwater but couldn't find him. All there were was pieces of the chairs, cloaks, and scarves. Hermione swam to the door by holding onto the wall as she slid it open and more water came flooding in. It was completely dark as people were locked into their compartments by loose benches as Hermione ducked down and looked for him.  
  
[I] Where is he? [/I] Hermione thought. She pushed things out of the way hearing faint voices from Ron, Harry, and Lizzy. Hermione got back from underwater and called his name, "CROOKSHANKS!" A soft hissing was heard from the roof of the train. Hermione swam to the door as her friends swam after her. She opened the door and yet again, more water came in. She grabbed hold onto the ladder by the door and climbed up and saw Crookshanks.but he was with some other creature.Hermione had never seen before.  
  
~**~ Chapter 4 - Creature on the Roof ~**~  
  
It was a salmon pink creature with bulging black eyes and had weird noises coming from its mouth.  
  
"C-crookshanks, what are you doing out here?" Hermione asked. She went closer to him as Crookshanks hissed and dived in front of her, as protecting her from the creature.  
  
It made a weird noise that sounded of a cat, but more of an echo. Harry, Ron, and Lizzy climbed up after her.  
  
"What is that!" Lizzy screeched. Hermione shook her head as she stepped back.  
  
"[I] Harry Potter," [/I] the creature whispered in a faint hiss. "[I] I have been sent here, Harry Potter.today is your last day.YOU WILL DIE! [/I]" Harry stepped back and could tell that the others had heard it too.  
  
"Did you hear what is said?" Harry yelled. Ron nodded. "It's going to kill you, Harry!" said Ron worriedly. "Ron, I know that! You can at least help me!" he said. Harry continued to walk back further as the creature came close to him. He stepped on the hem of his robes, tripped, and fell and was holding onto the edge of the train with one hand.  
  
"HARRY!" Hermione cried. Harry was dangling from the edge as he was struggling to get up.  
  
"Grab on to something!" Lizzy suggested. "LIKE WHAT?!" Harry snapped. Lizzy looked around frantically until she spotted a rope. It was wet slightly so she tossed it town to Harry as she, Hermione, and Ron pulled on the other end. Harry put his foot on the side of the train but it foot slipped and the others were losing their grip.  
  
"You have to try, Harry!" Lizzy said. Harry tried, but he couldn't manage to get back on and there was no window in sight to climb through, no door, nothing! The train began to move as the lights flickered on as Harry was struggling even harder.  
  
"Don't give up, Harry! Never give up!" said Hermione. Harry put his hand on the other rope as they tugged from the other end. His foot slipped but he kept on going. Those same words pounded in his head. [I] Don't give up, Harry! Never give up! [/I] He finally managed to get on the roof as Ron patted him on the back and Lizzy and Hermione hugged him. "We should get back inside the train." Said Harry. Everyone agreed and they climbed down in the train and reveled that it was all - dry, and everyone was calm. Ginny and Colin Creevey came running toward them.  
  
"What were you guys doing on the roof!" she exclaimed. "Hermione found Crookshanks and he was with some creature.hard to explain, Gin." Said Harry.  
  
"But, how did you come from over there.when you were in your compartment.the whole time?"  
  
"What do you mean we were in there the whole time?" Lizzy asked. "We were on the roof!" Colin shook his head eagerly.  
  
"You were in your compartment playing wizard chess, Hermione was reading, and Lizzy was munching on Chocolate frogs!" said Colin.  
  
"What? That's not possible! We were on the roof! How could this happen?" Ron said. Harry looked at his new watch his godfather Sirius had gave him and looked at the time. "8:15. But - this was an hour ago!" said Harry. Ginny gave them a confused look.  
  
"What was an hour ago?" she asked. Ron led the others into their compartment.but they didn't see themselves.  
  
"What is going on here?" said Ginny. "How could you be there in the start and come from the other way!"  
  
"Climbed through the window." Colin suggested.  
  
"And get on the roof? There's no ladder and no way." Said Ginny thoughtfully.  
  
"You guys! We did [I] not [/I] climb through the window!" said Lizzy. "Then how did you get there?" Colin asked. Hermione shook her head as they got into the compartment, still soaked.  
  
The sun was now shining brightly as everyone had changed into clean robes.  
  
"Hey, Lizzy, what house do you think you'll be in?" she asked, taking a bite of a chocolate frog.  
  
"Hmmm.I suppose Gryffindor would be good. I'm brave as well, but I'm not so sure." Said Lizzy. The train slowed down as Harry looked out at his window and they finally arrived at Hogsmeade station. They grabbed their things and hopped off the train hoping not to run into Malfoy.how very wrong they were.  
  
As they were going into a carriage, Malfoy came gliding toward them with a girl at his side. She had golden blond hair, which was just past her shoulders and hazel eyes; she looked at Harry and his friends as if they were something that came out of the garbage.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked furiously. "Nothing from you, Mudblood." He said smirking as the girl sniggered. "I know her." Lizzy mumbled. "What?" "I met her in Flourish and Blotts. She was insulting me about being Muggle born. I overheard her friends and her name is Riana." She said.  
  
"I see Potty, Weasel, and the two Mudbloods have been on the roof, and for why?" he said coldly.  
  
"Is that any of your business, Malfoy?" Lizzy spat.  
  
"Shut it, Mudblood." He said. Ron nearly dived at Malfoy as Hermione and Harry held him back.  
  
"Just ignore him, Ron," said Lizzy. ~**~ Chapter 5 - Return of the Creature ~**~  
  
The got inside the carriage leaving Malfoy and Riana to go back to their own carriage. Harry was still confused by what had happened. How had they somehow got back in time? Or did everyone just lose his or her memory? Harry shook of that thought as the carriage stopped and they walked up the stone steps. They entered the Great Hall, the lights were shining brightly, and Peeves was high above dropping gallons of maple syrup on the students.  
  
"PEEVES!" Hermione said. "Get down here this instant!" seeing she was a prefect. Peeves dropped the bucket of syrup at Hermione but it missed her by 5 inches and hit Riana. Malfoy was glaring up at Peeves as Riana was trying to get the sticky syrup off. Professor McGonagall swept past Hermione and approached Riana.  
  
"Go to the girls' bathrooms and clean up quickly. There are extra robes in the laundry bin. Be back before the sorting!" she sniffed. Malfoy took Riana to the bathrooms as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lizzy were trying to hide their sniggers. They walked into the Great Hall as a girl nearly ran into them. She had long brown hair, and sparkling brown eyes.  
  
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm Niki by the way." She said, as everyone shook her hand.  
  
"I'm Harry Potter, these are my friend Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Lizzy Richmond." Said Harry promptly.  
  
Niki smiled brightly as they sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for the sorting to begin.  
  
"Oh, I got to go and meet up with Professor McGonagall! For my private sorting!" said Lizzy suddenly. Lizzy waved goodbye to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and her new friend Niki. She exited the hall as Harry had a look around at the familiar room. Not long after, Professor McGonagall stormed in, parchment clutched in hand as she walked to the top of the room.  
  
"We have a transfer from America. So, she will be sorted first.Elizabeth Richmond, will you come up here please." Lizzy walked up to the stool, shaking slightly as she sat down and the hat was placed on her head.[I] "Ah, you're brave, eh? Hmmm.loyal, cunning, but Slytherin would help you so much more.then again, maybe not. I know just where to put you.GRYFFINDOR!" [/I] Harry's table erupted with cheers as Lizzy practically skipped to the Gryffindor table.  
  
After the sorting, everyone was seated, the feast finally began. Lizzy looked at her food nervously as Harry laughed.  
  
"It's not poison! You can eat it!" he said. Lizzy smiled weakly as she ate it. Her eyes grew wider as she kept eating, while Ron and Harry were laughing.  
  
"You like it?" Harry asked. Lizzy smiled with a mouth full of mash potatoes as she continued to eat. The doors burst open and everyone looked around anxiously. No one. But until they looked on the ground, the creature they had seen on the train was back.  
  
"What-is-that?" Niki said, scooting as close to Ron as possible to get away from the creature that was coming toward the Gryffindor table. "It's a Rittle!" said Hermione suddenly. Ron looked annoyed. "What kind?" "No! That's the name of it! It's a Rittle (not riddle)! Its call is fatal to any animal, but wait-"  
  
"Why wasn't it fatal to Crookshanks?" Lizzy asked. Hermione's eyes widened as the creature said in a hiss: [I]  
  
Harry Potter, it is time. [/I]  
  
Harry looked around, he felt everyone staring at him as his head started to heat up. He wanted to ask 'time for what', but obviously, didn't want to risk it. The Rittle reached out a bony hand until Dumbledore shot out a purpleish, pink light and him.and he fled. Harry looked around curiously. Everyone began eating as if nothing had happened.  
  
"What's wrong, Harry?" Niki asked. "What's wrong?! Didn't you see that creature that just came in here? Th-the Rittle or something!" said Harry angrily.  
  
"Ah," said Hermione knowingly. "I've heard of the Rittle. But-of course-it is very, VERY rare to be seen. It lives somewhere in Asia or Africa. Harry, how could you possibly have seen it?"  
  
"Hermione! It just came in here!" said Harry irritably. "Harry, are you ok?" Lizzy asked. "Nothing came in here! We were all eating until you just said a Rittle came in here!"  
  
"What on [I] earth [/I] are you talking about?" Niki said.  
  
"Oh, uh-NEVERMIND!" Harry screeched. After the feast, Harry stomped out of the Great Hall leaving his friends with confused looks. It happened again! Why didn't anyone know what was going on? Did they loose their memories? What was going on? ~**~ Chapter 6 - Classes ~**~  
  
It was obviously going to be a normal day for Harry today. Snape loathed him even more this year, and was giving Gryffindors extra work. Harry got up from bed the second day of school, and raced down the stairs and waited for his friends.  
  
"You're early." Lizzy smiled, sitting beside him waiting for the others. Soon, everyone came down and they walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As usual, the Slytherins were howling in laughter as Harry passed by.  
  
"Happened again didn't it, Potter?" he sneered. "Seeing things aren't you?" Harry gave him a glaring look as they settled themselves down and dug in.  
  
"What've we got today?" Ron asked, peering over his schedule. "Potions with Slytherins!" he groaned.  
  
"What's so bad about Potions?" Lizzy asked. Hermione, Ron, Niki, and Harry looked at her in surprisment.  
  
"He hates all of the students and favors the Slytherins! Though, McGonagall wouldn't do the same for us! She's just strict!" Ron mumbled. They got up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall, pushing the large oak doors wide open. Hermione led them down to the dungeons, where it got colder by the minute. Harry couldn't bare to look at the jars full of what looked like eyeballs, fingers, and even what looked like brain cells. The Slytherins were leaning against the walls, making more jokes about Harry and the other Gryffindors.  
  
Malfoy was about to say something to Harry just as Snape swept past him. Snape shot him an angry look as he unlocked the door and all of the Gryffindors poured into the back.  
  
"Time to split up the Dream Team." He said. He walked over to Harry's desk.  
  
"You'll sit next to Mr. Malfoy." He said with a slight sneer. Harry groaned, gathered his things, and went to sit by Malfoy. "Weasley, sit by Miss Parkinson, Miss Granger, by Miss Wood (I made her up. Lol). Niki (I don't know your last name.), by Goyle. Ah, and what have we here, a new student. Hmmm.but where should I put you? Over there by Miss Bullstrode." He said, waving his hand carelessly.  
  
He walked up back to his desk and took out what looked like a large, moldy book.  
  
"[I] Moste Potente Potions [/I]," he said, holding up the book. "We will be learning how to make the potion how to make you inside out." He said. Everyone gasped stupidly as his evil smile widened.  
  
"You will work in partners! I will draw names out!" he said. Harry looked at him as though he were crazy! He would usually team him up with Malfoy. He got out a large pointed hat which had slips of parchment in them. He picked up the first two names. "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley. Go and sit together by a table. Everyone clear out!" he said angrily.  
  
"Miss Granger.and.Miss Niki (I NEED UR LAST NAME!! Or just make one up! LOL!)." Hermione smiled happily as she and Niki found a place to sit. Ron and Malfoy were arguing about where to sit.  
  
"Potter and.Miss Richmond." Lizzy smiled at Harry as they sat beside Hermione and Niki. Finally, names were called and they began working on their project.  
  
"Do you know how to do this?" Harry asked, looking at the complicated potion.  
  
"Hmmm.it seems Snape has picked out the ingredients.the ones we can't get.which will take months to find. So, we just need to put them in order!" said Lizzy, looking at the recipe.  
  
"Lacewings or Boomslang skin first?" he asked. "Hmmm. (she strolled her finger down the recipe) Lacewings." She answered. Harry added it in as the potion bubbled.  
  
"Ok, now the Basilisk Skin.and we stir for a minute and let it sit for 2 minutes." She said. Lizzy added the Basilisk skin as they took turns stirring it.  
  
"Looks like Ron and Malfoy are having a rough time." Harry laughed. Lizzy smiled, as they began arguing about the potion. They began a deep conversation as they watched bubbled and frothed.  
  
They stirred it some more as Harry added the Boomslang skin and they stirred again.  
  
"There is one potion ingredient I have not given to you. It is NOT in the student store cupboard so you will need to get it yourselves. It's a shredded Boomslang skin, which is harder to find. Get it at a full moon." Said Snape.  
  
Harry groaned as the bell rang, signaling that it was time for the next class. Harry and everyone walked out of the dungeon finally climbing into the warmth as they left the building and went out to the greenhouses for Herbology.  
  
"You guys doing good on your project?" Hermione asked. "Oh, we're doing fine!" said Ron sarcastically. "Niki and I are doing ok. And what about you, Harry, Lizzy?" "Perfect." Lizzy smiled. "Ooo! I see a little somethin' going on!" Ron joked, finally in a happier mood. Harry and Lizzy blushed furiously as they approached the greenhouses and waited for Professor Sprout. She crossed the damp lawn, keys clutched in her hand, Hufflepuff students behind her. "Greenhouse 5 today." She said briskly. She unlocked the door and they went inside. A smell of damp fertilizer filled his nostrils as she led them to the back of the greenhouse.  
  
"Now, this greenhouse is more complex and dangerous." She said, pointing to a man-eating flower. Parvati Patil gasped and stepped back but ran into the flower.  
  
"OW!!!" she screeched. "It bit me!"  
  
Parvati clutched her hand to her bleeding shoulder as Sprout directed Lavender to take her to the hospital wing.  
  
"Ok, you see, that's rule number one! Never run into a man-eating plant." Said Sprout smiling weakly. They all got into groups, put on their dragon hide gloves, and tried to repot the plants.  
  
"What kind of plant is this thing?!" Ron said, nearly dodging the plant as it made a move to bite him. "Ron, that's what it's called. The Man-Eating plant." Said Hermione calmly.  
  
"I don't want to know the name, Hermione! Ugh! Just-never mind! HOW DO WE RE-POT IT?!" he said angrily. Hermione giggled.  
  
"All you had to do is tickle it!" said Hermione. "What?!" "Tickle it! It'll calm it down and you can re-pot it." Hermione showed them as she tickled the plant and it started laughing in a high pitched tone as it calmed down and Hermione put it in another pot. Ron, Lizzy, Harry, and Niki followed Hermione's orders.  
  
"Is there another name for this or something?" Niki asked, putting a rather large fat one into a pot.  
  
"Tickling Plant, boring though, isn't it?" Hermione said. Harry rolled his eyes as she brushed the dirt off of him.  
  
The lesson ended quickly, as Harry washed his hands and put his things into his bag.  
  
"Now what do we have?" Niki groaned. "Morning break, then lunch!" said Lizzy happily. Harry pushed the door open and they crossed the lawn to Hagrid's hut.  
  
"Who's Harid?" Lizzy asked curiously. "Oh, he's the Hogwarts game keeper." Said Ron smiling. Lizzy raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Harry met him when he was getting his letter from Hogwarts, became friends.long story." Said Hermione hastily.  
  
They approached his cabin and knocked on the door. Hagrid answered it grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter visit me." He said, beckoning them inside.  
  
"Hagrid, this is Lizzy Richmond." Said Harry. Hagrid shook her hand-or rather her whole arm. Lizzy and Harry took a seat on the chair (which was the size of a large couch)  
  
"So, what've yeh been up to all day?" Hagrid asked happily, offering them a plate of stoat sandwiches but they refused.  
  
"Classes as usual," Harry groaned. "But he didn't pair me with Malfoy in Potions today."  
  
"Well, maybe he wanted something different fer a change-" "He paired me with Lizzy." Hagrid nearly spit out a cookie he was munching on.  
  
"Two Gryffindor, together? Well, that must've bin some change!" said Hagrid. Lizzy and Harry nodded in agreement.  
  
"Who'd they get picked with?" Hagrid asked, pointing to the other.  
  
"For an odd reason, Hermione and Niki, and Ron and Malfoy."  
  
"Ron an' Malfoy isn't odd, but Hermione and Niki! Now that's sayin' somethin'. Well, you'd better get goin' off to lunch then." Said Hagrid. They clambered out of his cabin and ran to the castle.  
  
"Snape's been acting a bit odd, don't you think? I mean, putting two Gryffindors together isn't like him!" said Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, we know that, Herm." Said Ron irritably. They dropped their book bags in their dormitories and hurried down the stairs to the Great Hall for lunch. ~**~ Chapter 7 - (I don't have a name for it. Lol) ~**~  
  
Later that night at about 10:30, Harry climbed the stairs drowsily and climbed in to bed. Neville was snoring loudly, and Ron was fast asleep. Harry closed his eyes and fell asleep.  
  
Harry woke up immediately and looked around him. Ron, and the other boys were all gone leaving Harry alone. The moonlight shined through the window as he crept to Ron's bed. He gasped. His body was stiff and there was a look of pure shock on his face. His body was as cold as ice as Harry just realized.Ron had died. Died by the Killing Curse, Harry hadn't heard it, there wasn't enough time to save him. It seemed it also had happened to the other boys of the dormitory.  
  
Harry raced as fast as he could down the stairs and into the other dormitories, the same thing happened. A cold shiver went down Harry's back as he whipped around and saw it. Lord Voldemort was in Gryffindor Common room.  
  
"No one can stop you now." he said in a faint hiss. Harry didn't know what to say, he backed up against the wall as Voldemort came closer.  
  
"Wh-what do you mean?" he choked. Voldemort laughed, a cold and icy laugh.  
  
"Don't tell me, you don't know?" "No one ever tells me anything anymore! You didn't have to kill my friends- " Though Harry thought that sounded stupid, because Voldemort usually didn't have a reason for killing people.  
  
"No one is in your way, now." He said quietly. Harry looked around frantically for a wand, anybodies, but no wand.  
  
Voldemort reached out a hand but Harry tried to back away farther. The room became a sudden blur as Voldemort was laughing. Harry felt a sear pain across his scar as he let out a scream, louder than he had before. Harry woke up immediately, sweat running down his forehead. The dream had seemed so real! Harry looked around the room, panting, as he saw Ron was still alive, and in his bed. Harry sighed in relief as he lay back down on his bed.  
  
Harry awoke hours later by Fred and George shaking his bed. "What do you want?" he said groggily. "Quidditch practice and we've got to see who the captain is!" George said happily.  
  
"How do we do that?" said Harry immediately, climbing out of bed. "Vote." Fred answered simply. They left leaving Harry to get in his clothes and they walked to the locker room.  
  
"Who're you voting for?" Harry panted. "Can't tell you." Said George grinning. Harry pulled on his scarlet Quidditch robes and they walked to the middle of the field.  
  
There was a desk set in the middle and all of the teams were out there putting paper into hats.  
  
Harry put a name into the hat (can't tell you that! Hehe).  
  
"Ok! Now, I'll take out the paper and see who has most votes.Slytherin first." Madam Hooch reached her hand into the hat and tallied the votes.  
  
"Ok, I'll tell you at the end.now.Gryffindor." She again took another name. She did Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and she began calling out the names.  
  
"Slytherin, Draco Malfoy (Loud cheers were heard from the Slytherin team) Hufflepuff Justin Finch-Fletchley (can't think of anyone else and I have no clue who else is on the team) Ravenclaw, Cho Chang And Gryffindor, Harry Potter!" Harry's eyes grew wide as the Gryffindor team cheered for him.  
  
"Potter, Chang, Finch-Fletchley, and Malfoy, you will all need to be training your team hard. If you don't follow the requirements, I will be choosing the new team captain, understood?" They all nodded in agreement as the other three teams left leaving Gryffindor to practice.  
  
"So, what do you want us to do, Harry?" Fred asked. Harry shrugged, as they all clearly understood that he was a new captain, he might be nervous.  
  
"Just want us to do what Wood wanted?" Katie Bell asked.  
  
"Sure, why not." Harry answered, and they mounted their brooms and began to play.  
  
Harry let out the snitch has he dove for it nearly dodging a flying Bludger.  
  
"Sorry, Harry!" Fred called. Harry caught the snitch easily in his hand just as the Slytherin team was pouring out onto the field.  
  
Harry groaned as the team dove straight toward them. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry snapped. Malfoy smirked. "Special permission from Snape to practice." Malfoy held out a small piece of parchment that read: [I] I give the Slytherin team time to practice on The Quidditch field WITHOUT the other teams. Professor S. Snape [/I]  
  
"Snape can't do that!" Angelina shouted. "Oh yes he can! He's a teacher, he can make you guys get off of the field." Said Malfoy coldly. Harry sighed heavily. They had no choice but to leave.  
  
"There's no other place to practice is there?" he asked. Alicia shook her head. ~**~ Chapter 8 - Quidditch Tryouts ~**~  
  
"And we [I] still [/I] don't have anyone for Keeper!" said Katie. "Haven't you heard there's a thing called 'Try outs'." Said Fred irritably.  
  
Harry slumped back up to the castle, with the rest of the Gryffindor team arguing from behind him.  
  
"I say we have the try outs right now!" Alicia screeched. "Have you heard that they need to practice!" "Oh yeah!" "Then how about next month!" Fred said. "No! It'll take too long! That's when we have our first match!" "I SAY RIGHT NOW!"  
  
"YOU GUYS!" Harry said irritably. "We'll just have the tryouts in a week or two! Then he/she will have enough time to practice AND we'll have an extra week to practice for the match!"  
  
"Y-yes, I was going to say that but they wouldn't let me." Fred said quickly. Harry shook his head in disgust as he climbed the clean, marble staircases and in the Gryffindor common room.  
  
Hermione was in her usual chair reading, and Ron was busy showing Lizzy how to play wizard chess, and Niki was rolling on the floor laughing because Lizzy obviously lost to Hermione again.  
  
"No, Lizzy, you just say where you want the pieces to go. But if you try to pick them up, they'll insult you." Said Ron.  
  
"They'll insult me?" "No, but it could it happen." "I don't even know how to play REAL Muggle chess." "Ok! We have got a lot of work to do!"  
  
"Oh, hey, Ron, they're doing Quidditch tryouts if you wanted to play Keeper." Said Harry happily.  
  
"Me? But I don't have a broom!" Ron said gloomily. "Well, how much do you want to play?" "A lot." Ron answered instantly. "Well, you'll get a broom." Said Harry smiling evilly. At 11 o'clock, Harry put his cloak over him and crept out of Gryffindor dormitory. He now then put on his invisibility cloak that he had gotten from Dumbledore, who had gotten it from his father. He walked down the quiet, calm corridors making sure not to make any noise. He reached the large oak doors and pushed them open.  
  
The next morning, Ron had woken all of the boys in their dormitory by screaming with delight.  
  
"Harry, wake up!" He cried, shaking Harry awake. "What?" he said groggily. "Look!" Ron was holding in his hands what looked like a new broom. It was labeled Nimbus 4000.  
  
"It's the latest model yet! The fastest too!" Ron squealed. "But who would buy it for me if I'm only going to try out for Gryffindor?" Harry smacked his hand to his forehead.  
  
"Harry, you didn't by this for me did you?" Ron asked. Harry looked at him, changing his expression to what was supposed to be a puzzled look but was a crooked smile.  
  
"Harry, you DID by this for me!" Ron smiled. He looked at his broom again then Harry realized.he had forgotten to take off the price tag. Ron had fainted.  
  
Seamus and Dean came down smiling as well. "Harry, this broom costs like nearly 1,000 galleons! How did you get it!" Dean asked.  
  
"Bought it." Seamus rolled his eyes. "You do know that he's only trying out? And you're not going to let him in the team even if he is bad at it."  
  
"Of course not! But this way he'll have more time to practice!" said Harry happily. Ron had finally awoken and they walked down to the fields and Harry went to train Ron.  
  
"Now, are you sure you want to be Keeper?" Harry asked. Ron nodded. "Positive." Ron and Harry mounted their brooms, and was amazed that Ron was a lot faster.  
  
Harry began throwing Quaffles through the hoops and Ron would usually catch them and throw them back.  
  
"Good," Harry said an hour later, Ron hadn't missed a single one. "I think you've got it." Ron smiled as they flew back down and headed up to the castle.  
  
"You think I'll be Keeper?" he asked. Harry shrugged. "Possibly. You were really great out there." Niki and Lizzy came running out to them.  
  
"Hermione's studying in the liberry, and we decided to come out her for no apparent reason." Said Lizzy quickly.  
  
"For one, it's LIBRARY and two, why are you acting so-er-hyper?"  
  
"Oh that? Hahaha! Well, funny thing actually, it all started out when I got really bored for no apparent reason then I saw some kind of drink lying on the ground so I drank it and Lizzy found one and no we're hyper! Isn't it great?" Niki squealed.  
  
Ron laughed as Harry rolled his eyes and they walked back up to the castle.  
  
"You know we have potions tomorrow and we haven't even studied for the potion! Remember, we're paired up!" said Lizzy.  
  
"Ah, your back to normal and-wait a minute! She's right! I never did study for it!"  
  
"Harry, we're only making potions-" "Yeah, but we have to test them!" said Niki. Lizzy pulled out her schedule from her bad and groaned.  
  
"And we have potions next!" They raced up to the castle hoping not to be late for lunch.  
  
"I just realized something." Ron mumbled. "What?" "We missed two whole classes while practicing Quidditch." "WHAT! Oh GREAT!" Harry and Ron left Lizzy and Niki to go back up to the castle as they collected their things from the classes they missed.  
  
"But, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley-" "Why can't you just give us our homework?" "Because, today is a day off from school! We're working on fixing up the classrooms a bit!" said Professor Sprout irritably. Ron turned red as they walked into the Great hall and sat down.  
  
"Why couldn't you tell us it was a day off?" Harry asked, turning to Lizzy. She shrugged.  
  
About a week had passed and it was finally time for Quidditch tryouts. Ron followed the other students who were trying out as Harry walked with the teams up to the stands.  
  
"Who's first?" Fred asked, looking on a clipboard Harry was holding. Harry snorted. "COLIN CREEVEY!" he bellowed. Colin walked out to the field, holding a broom as he mounted it. Alicia and Katie were throwing Quaffles while Colin had to block them. The only problem was, he missed every single one, and Fred let a bludger loose and it knocked him in the face.  
  
"RON WEASELY!" Fred, George, and Harry were cheering the loudest as Ron mounted his Nimbus 4000.  
  
More Quaffles were thrown at him as Ron blocked them and threw them back. A first year (yes a first year) mounted one of the school's brooms and when they reached the top of the hoops, they fell off.  
  
Harry and the rest of the team added up the scores as they were writing down the team. They walked down to meet everyone and Harry said, "The new team will be posted tomorrow." And they walked up to the castle.  
  
"Did I make it?" Ron asked anxiously. "You'll have to see!" said Harry grinning. ~**~ Chapter 9 - Quidditch Match ~**~  
  
The next morning, Harry and Ron woke up bright and early as Ron ran down the stairs with Harry behind him. There was a new piece of parchment pinned to the wall and it said: [I] The new team of Gryffindor House Quidditch Team [/I] [B] CHASER: Katie Bell CHASER: Angelina Johnson CHASER: Alicia Spinnet BEATER: Fred Weasley BEATER: George Weasley SEEKER/CAPTAIN: Harry Potter KEEPER: Ron Weasley [/B]  
  
Ron nearly screamed in delight as he saw his name. Harry stood next to him smiling.  
  
"Practice is today." He said patting him on the shoulder, a little too hard.  
  
"Ow!" Ron said, rubbing his shoulder. "Ron! I heard you were made Keeper!" Niki said. She threw her arms around him as Ron patted her awkwardly on the head.  
  
Niki smiled and ran up to the girls' dormitory while they were making signs for the Quidditch match that read: [B] Go Gryffindor [/B] and stuff like that.  
  
"What color should this one be?" Lizzy said, taking out a paint brush (they were painting it the Muggle way).  
  
"Uh.red and orange-Gryffindor colors." Hermione answered. Lizzy painted the words, Gryffindor rules and Slytherin eats rocks (Lizzy still had become hyper and ever since she saw a picture of Marcus Flint, she really thought he had been eating rocks. (don't ask how she saw the pic of Flint.)).  
  
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Slytherin eats rocks?" "Well, Harry showed me a picture of a Quidditch match, that Colin Creevey took, and it showed Marcus Flint and I thought he had an accident with a bludger or ate rocks for dinner, day and night."  
  
Niki and Hermione burst out laughing, with Lizzy smiling. Niki was busy drawing a picture of Flint, who had two bludgers in his hands and were chewing on them as the rest of the Gryffindors were laughing at them.  
  
"That's real good!" said Lizzy, peering over at her picture. Niki smiled brightly. An hour later, they were finally done with the posters, Ron and Harry had already walked down to the field.  
  
"Come on!" Parvati Patil called to them. They followed her and Lavender Brown out to the fields and sat in front.  
  
Most of the Gryffindors helped them with holding up the signs, which Hermione had made that different colors went across it.  
  
Ron and Harry walked on to the field. "Mount your brooms." Madam Hooch called to them. Ron got shakily on to his room, followed by Harry. She blew her whistle and everyone flew into the air.  
  
Ron and Harry nearly fell off their brooms seeing the poster Niki had made about Flint.  
  
The Quaffle was released. and the game began!  
  
"Angelina Johnson catches the Quaffle," Lee Jordan said. "And-look at that sign of Marcus Flint! HA,HA! This is HILARIOUS! HA-" he fell off his chair and started laughing, while the Slytherins glared at the Gryffindors. The game continued as Gryffindor had scored 3 times already. Harry cheered but there was no sign of the golden snitch. Ron was doing spectacular with catching the Quaffles.  
  
Malfoy was about four feet below him, searching for the snitch as well. He dodged a bludger, nearly hitting his head as a Slytherin Chaser got hit with it in the face.  
  
Harry flew around, but no sign of the snitch. Harry looked around over the crowd, then he spotted it! It was hovering right below Malfoy. He seemed to see it as well.  
  
Harry dived, his hand outstretched.  
  
"You'll never catch that snitch, Potter." Malfoy mumbled. Harry ignored him.but something stopped him from catching the snitch. It was the same creature they had seen on the train! AND at the Hogwarts Feast! But what was it doing back? Harry backed up, along with Malfoy. A gold swirl of light was coming out of his hand, as the snitch came nearer to it.  
  
Ron came flying toward them, along with the other teams.  
  
"What's going on-" Harry pointed to the creature. The students in the crowd came coming down to see what was wrong.  
  
"What is it now?" Niki asked. Hermione pointed toward the Rittle.  
  
"What is it doing back?!" Lizzy whispered frantically. Harry shook his head as everyone scooted away from it.  
  
Dumbledore came down from the crowds, followed by Snape and Professor McGonagall. A jet of red and white light shot out from his wand as the creature was knocked backwards. More light came out, and he was gone, but before he had left.he whispered to Harry: [I] It's not over yet, Harry Potter. You will die! [/I]  
  
"Er-I guess we'll continue the match. Nothing seems to be wrong." Said Professor McGonagall through a large purple megaphone (don't ask how it got there. Lol)  
  
Everyone went back to watch the match as 14 players zoomed into the air. The balls were released again and Harry was once again looking for the snitch. He had finally caught sight of it 5 feet above him. Malfoy keeping a close eye on Harry, saw it too.  
  
Harry's eyes squinted as he was flying toward the sun. His hand outstretched and the snitch was grasped tightly in his hand.  
  
"40, 130, to Gryffindor!"  
  
The crowd roared (besides Slytherins). Harry and Ron dove down. They both smiled brightly, as they made their way up to the castle, brooms in hand.  
  
That night at dinner.Professor Dumbledore, made an important announcement. "Since we had so much fun last year with the Yule Ball," he said. "We have decided to have another one! But, there will be a welcome back dance, and Christmas!" The boys groaned, but the girls burst into cheers. Meanwhile, Ginny was gazing dreamily at Harry. But little did she know.so was Lizzy.(I'm about to cry! Don't ask! For some stupid reason, this is so sad! LOL!)  
  
"Lizzy?" Lizzy jumped as she whipped around and saw Niki staring at her. "Wh-what?" she asked.  
  
"Oh.nothing. Who're you going to the ball with?" "Oh, I don't know. No one would want to go with me." She said sadly. "Someone will go with you! Don't worry!" she said smiling.  
  
After dinner, they walked back up to the dormitories and there was another notice: [B] There is another Hogsmeade weekend for 3rd years and up. Be sure you have a SIGNED permission form from your parent Or guardian. [/B]  
  
"Good thing I already turned my form into McGonagall." Said Lizzy happily.  
  
Hermione, Niki, and Lizzy walked up to the dormitories and went to bed. Ginny smiled at Harry as she went up to her own dormitory. Ginny completely thought Harry was looking at her, but how very wrong she was, Harry was looking at Lizzy.for the first time he realized it.he had a crush on someone.not like he had on Cho.but something different. (yup, it doesn't make since but OH WELL! Lol, well, I'll just continue. Hmmm.when will Harry ever love Lizzy? Hmmm.will he ever love her? OH WELL! Lol) ~**~ Chapter 10 - A Trip to Hogsmeade ~**~  
  
Harry awoke the next day. Rain was pouring hard on the windows, as fog was starting to come in. He got dressed and walked down to the common room to see Niki and Ron sitting on the couch.  
  
"Oh, hey, Harry." Said Ron smiling. Harry smiled weakly as he sat on a chair in the far corner. Not long after that, Lizzy suddenly came down and sat beside him.  
  
"The ball is in a week," She said, trying to overhear Ron and Niki's conversation. "So, who're you going to ask?" Harry shrugged. About an hour later, everyone was finally ready to go to Hogsmeade.  
  
"LIZZY! HERMIONE!!" Niki called. "What?" Hermione and Lizzy said in unison. "Ron finally asked me to the ball!" said Niki happily. "O-oh, that's great." Said Hermione looking slightly disappointed. "Congratulations!" said Lizzy happily.  
  
"Well, come on! We might be able to find dresses!" Hermione said. "Yeah, if I had someone to go with." Lizzy muttered. They walked inside a shop near them and stepped inside. Girls were on high stools, and dresses were fitted on to them.  
  
"Do we wear dresses.or dress robes?" Lizzy asked. "Dresses. Christmas we wear dress robes."  
  
"So, you three are getting on dresses, eh? Well, follow me." Said a kind lady.  
  
"You can call me Rosette, I trust I'll be seeing you here more often, with the next Christmas ball coming up." She said, as Niki stepped on to the stool.  
  
"You girls wait over there." Rosette said, taking Lizzy and Hermione to large beige armchairs.  
  
"What color do you want, dear?" "Uh.navy blue, I guess." A large silk fabric was placed over Niki's head as Rosette cut the dress. A hole was made for her head as she slipped it through.  
  
"Almost done." She said a half an hour later. When the dress was finally done, Niki stepped off the stool. The dress swept the floor, and it had spaghetti straps.  
  
"You look good!" said Lizzy. "Well, I got to be going! Since I'm not going- "  
  
"Hold it," Hermione said, grabbing the back of Lizzy's cloak. "You're going!"  
  
Lizzy stepped on to the stool as a dark purple fabric was placed over her. The same thing happened, she cut the dress, made arm and a head hole. She was finally done!  
  
Lizzy's and Niki's dresses looked quite similar. Hermione now stepped on the stool and wore a dark green dress. Yes, them same thing happened.it was just below her knees.  
  
They wrapped up the dresses and walked out of the shop and noticed in the other room, the boys were putting on their stuff. Niki was gazing through the window at Ron until Lizzy elbowed her.  
  
"You can look at Ron when we get to the Three Broomsticks!" Niki followed Lizzy and Hermione into the Three Broomsticks and they finally found a seat.  
  
Lizzy sat gazing out the window, as Harry and Ron finally came inside.  
  
"What took you so long?" Niki laughed, scooting toward the wall was Ron sat next to her.  
  
"What took [I] us [/I] so long? What about you?! You guys were in there for an hour 1 ½!  
  
Hermione ordered them all butter beers and they sat talking about Quidditch, besides Hermione whose mind was on books and her classes on Monday. "So, who're you taking to the ball?" Ron asked, taking a sip of butter beer.  
  
"Uh, I don't know.maybe Cho, I guess." He thought quickly. Lizzy sighed sadly, knowing she wouldn't go to the ball with Harry. She'd sit in the back, watching everyone have all the fun.  
  
"You ok, Liz?" Niki asked. "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just day dreaming." Said Lizzy. Rain was pouring down harder, as they left the shop.  
  
"Where to now?" Ron asked. "Back to Hogwarts! It's getting cold and that's where everyone else is going!" said Hermione smiling. Ron sighed as Hermione led them through Hogsmeade and they left. They all walked back up to the castle and in to the Gryffindor dormitories. Hermione was in her usual chair buried in a book, Lizzy and Harry were playing wizard chess, and Niki and Ron were sitting on the couch talking as usual.  
  
Two days before the dance, practically all of the girls had dates for the dance.even Hermione. She hadn't told them who it was yet.  
  
"Hermione, tell us!" Niki begged. "You'll find out at the dance!" she said. "Don't tell me it's someone we'll least suspect! LIKE KRUM!" Ron said angrily. "Ron, it IS someone you'll least suspect. AND Krum isn't coming back! I broke up with him during the summer! And that's that!" she said angrily. Lizzy was sitting on a couch, working on a nasty potions paper. She was staring at Harry and Ginny, talking and laughing, and had no clue what she just wrote: [I] I love Harry Potter, I love Harry Potter, [/I]. The words kept repeating itself. Niki was coming over to see how she was doing. Lizzy quickly put her hand over her paper.  
  
"What? What're you hiding?" she laughed. "Er-nothing!" Niki raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I won't laugh if you got everything wrong!" She moved Lizzy's hand and saw what she had wrote. She gasped. "You love Harry Potter!" she squealed. "I don't love him! It's only a crush!" she said, blushing furiously. "Besides, you love Ron!" she added. "Oh shut up, I do not!" Niki said, blushing as well.  
  
Lizzy nearly burst into tears at the sight of Harry and Ginny holding hands and walking out of the common room. Tears trickled down her face, as she put the book in front of her so no one would see her.  
  
"You ok?" Hermione asked, coming to sit next to her. "I-I'm fine." Lizzy responded, crossing the room to the window. Harry and Ginny were kissing by the lake, which made Lizzy cry even more. She was so mad, and sad at the same time, she chucked her book through the window and ran up to the girls' dormitory.  
  
"What was that about?" Ron asked. "She, uh." Niki began. "Do you know something?" Hermione asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, Lizzy really likes Harry, but now he seems so fond in Ginny, Lizzy never thought he'd ever REALLY, REALLY like her." Said Niki.  
  
"Oh, this isn't good. Harry was talking about asking Ginny to the ball last night!" said Ron. Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny broke apart to see the potions book lying on the grass. Harry ran over to it, Ginny holding tightly on to his hand.  
  
"Who's is this?" he said, looking at the paper. "Er-mine!" Ginny lied. Harry smiled as he took the book with him and he and Ginny entered the castle.  
  
At around midnight, Lizzy couldn't get to sleep. She walked down the stairs and sat down on the couch, not noticing someone sitting on a chair beside her.  
  
"What're you doing up so late, Lizzy?" A light turned on and realized that it was Seamus Finnigan. "Oh, just thinking." Lizzy sighed. "Hey, the ball's in a few days! Want to go with me? I haven't got anyone else to go with." He said excitedly. Lizzy smiled brightly. "Ok!" she agreed. They sat and talked for a few minutes until she went back into her bed and went fast asleep.  
  
~**~ Chapter 11 - The Welcome Back Ball ~**~  
  
Harry was getting ready into a nice suit, along with Ron who was wearing the same thing. He walked downstairs and saw Ginny wearing a dark pink dress that was sparkling in the moonlight.  
  
"You look beautiful." He whispered. Ginny smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Ginny took his arm and they walked to the Great Hall. Niki came down next, and Ron was looking dreamily at her.  
  
"What're you looking at?" she giggled. "Nothing." He said smiling. They too left. Hermione had soon left and Lizzy noticed she wasn't going with a Gryffindor. Lizzy put her hair up into a neat bun, a few curls were coming down right behind her ears. She took a deep breath and walked down the stairs, holding up her dress.  
  
Seamus smiled at her, as Lizzy took his arm and they walked to the Great Hall. She put her head on his shoulder and they went inside. The Great Hall was decorated with many lights. A color of a rainbow swept the floor and ceiling.  
  
"Want to dance?" Seamus asked, taking out his hand. Lizzy took it and they started to dance. But Lizzy nearly fainted at who Hermione's date was! Hermione entered the room with Draco Malfoy! None of the other students seemed to notice but Ron, Harry, Ginny and the others did!  
  
"Hermione!" "What?" "You're dancing with DRACO MALFOY!" "So?" "HERMIONE!" "He's changed alright? Give him a chance!"  
  
Hardly daring to believe it, Harry asked Ginny to dance. They swept the floor, and now they were in the center of a circle with everyone watching. Lizzy tried to hold back the tears, but couldn't.  
  
Everyone else soon began to dance. Harry spotted Lizzy and Seamus nearby and felt a stab of jealousy. He now wished he could have gone to the ball with her. But he didn't think Lizzy liked him back, boy was he wrong.  
  
Over the next few days, Lizzy was rather quiet. Harry had been in the library with Ginny, or on the Quidditch field with Ron.  
  
"Lizzy, it's ok! I mean, Harry is a big loser anyway!" Niki laughed. Lizzy glared at her.  
  
"He is NOT a loser Niki, besides, if Ron heard you, he'd never love you." Lizzy said smiling.  
  
"Shhhh! Here he comes!" Niki whispered. Ron and Harry were crossing the field, and Lizzy sank to the floor, turning dark red. As Harry opened his mouth to say something to Lizzy, Ginny came running over to him and grabbed his hand.  
  
"Hey, Harry." She giggled. "Er-hi, Ginny." Harry muttered. Ginny practically dragged Harry over by the lake, and Harry was waving miserably to the others.  
  
Lizzy glared at Ginny from a distance, and Ginny smirked at her. Lizzy's eyes filled with tears, and she ran back inside the castle.  
  
"What's up with that?!" Ron asked. "Ron, I think Ginny did something." Niki whispered. "You're accusing my sister because Lizzy's crying?"  
  
"No-yes. See, I think Lizzy really likes Harry-" "Niki, that is NO way to accuse Ginny! I can't imagine seeing her do something like this." "Neither could I." Niki muttered.  
  
Meanwhile, Harry was trying to escape Ginny.  
  
"Ginny, I need to be alone for once! I can't be hanging around you all of the time!" Harry said angrily. "But, Harry-" "Ginny, It doesn't matter that you're my girlfriend! I need some time alone for once! Please!" "Alright, Harry. I'm sorry." Ginny whispered. Harry kissed her on the forehead and dashed to the castle.  
  
Harry walked into the Gryffindor dormitory and saw Lizzy sitting on the couch crying.  
  
"Lizzy, what's wrong? Are you ok?" "Like you'd care." ~**~ Chapter 12 - Magical Moment ~**~  
  
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "You know perfectly well what I mean!" "No, Lizzy, I don't! I don't what's the matter! Why you've been crying and- "  
  
"Oh, now suddenly you care?" "Lizzy, I've always cared! I don't even know what you mean!" said Harry.  
  
"I'm not a bit surprised." Lizzy muttered. "LIZZY! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?!? YOU CAN TELL ME!" One thing was for sure, Lizzy didn't know herself what she was going on about. She cleared her throat loudly.  
  
"You've been with [I]Ginny[/I] this whole time just to get away from me. I know how much you hate me, but you don't have to just walk away from me like that!"  
  
"I would never want to walk away from you, Lizzy! Why would I do that?!" "BEACAUSE YOU HAVE ALWAYS LIKED GINNY MORE THAN BE AND YOUR WITH HER AS AN EXUSE NOT TO BE NEAR ME!" she blurted out.  
  
"Wait a minute, you like m-" "I didn't say anything!" said Lizzy quickly. "Hold on. You have liked me all this time.and felt jealous or-er-sad because you thought I hated you?" "Maybe." Said Lizzy quietly. "Lizzy, I don't hate you! You'll always be my friend! Nothing can change that!" said Harry smiling. Lizzy smiled back as Harry took a seat beside her. Harry put his arm around her (OOOOOOOO! What's Ginny gonna do? OH WELL! Too bad for Ginny! [supergrin])  
  
About an hour later, they had forgotten about everyone else. Harry had finally stopped talking about Ginny, and Lizzy wouldn't stop talking about if she looked fat in her dress at the dance. Lizzy looked up at him.the room was silent and the sun was going down. His emerald green eyes shown brightly. (EEEEEP! Sorry, I'm getting hyper!) Harry leaned in, (OOOOO! :D) and kissed her (AHHHHH!). It was a night Lizzy nor Harry would ever forget. Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck.until. "HARRY!" Harry and Lizzy broke apart and gasped. It was Ginny!  
  
"H-Harry, what're you doing?" she sobbed. "Ginny, it's not what it looks like!" "Yeah right, Harry!" Tears filled her eyes as she fled from the room. "I'm sorry, Harry." Lizzy whispered. "No. It's okay! I'll be right back!" Harry ran after Ginny who was heading to the library.  
  
"Ginny, I'm sorry." "No, Harry! No! I can't seem to trust you anymore if you go around kissing all of the girls you see!" "Ginny, I don't kiss all of the girls! Look, I'm sorry!" "Me too." "What?" "Er-nothing." "No, what did you say?" "I'm sorry, okay?" "For what, Gin?" Harry said. "You didn't do anything!" "Yes, yes I did! When we first got together, I was really excited! I knew we liked each other, but then.I felt our relationship was growing apart and I didn't like you.in that way. So, I sorta used you. To-er-make Lizzy jealous. I knew she really liked you and I wanted her to feel bad about it. I don't know what made me do it! I know it's not like me. But, I'm sorry, Harry."  
  
"You used me?!" "Yes-but I'm sorry-" "Ginny! How could you do such a thing-" "Harry, I said I'm sorry!" "That doesn't matter anymore! I can't believe you'd do that! You know, Lizzy was really upset! If you would have told me sooner-I would have understood! But no!"  
  
"You don't listen do you, Harry? I said I'm sorry, ok? You don't have to say anything!" "Just-Just leave me alone!" "Why? So you can be with that [I]Lizzy[/I]?" "What has gotten into you lately, Ginny? You have never, NEVER acted like this before.until now."  
  
"I told you before. I'm not going to repeat anything." "I really don't care anyway!" Harry stormed off out of the library and stood out of the doorway and called,  
  
"I HATE YOU, HARRY POTTER!"  
  
Lizzy was sitting calmly on the couch, as Harry finally came back.  
  
"Is Ginny mad?" "Yeah. She used me." "But-how-why?" "To make you jealous,"  
  
"But, I never did anything to her!" "I know. I know." Another week had passed, but Lizzy and Harry weren't the only ones who were now 'in love'. Now it was Ron and Niki (YAY!!!!) They seemed to have been spending a lot of time with each other, Lizzy and Harry as well, leaving Hermione alone.or else with Malfoy. One morning on Saturday, Hermione had just come back from the library; or so they thought.  
  
"Where have you been, Hermione?" Niki asked, while playing a game of wizard chess with Ron.  
  
"Um.at the library." She answered, smiling weakly. "Yeah, you were [I]really[/I] at the library." Lizzy teased. "Oh be quiet!" "Did you meet Malfoy there, Herm?" Ron said, still angry at the thought she was with Malfoy. "I-I'm not with him [I]all[/I] of the time!" "Herm, ever since you [I]really, really[/I] liked him, you couldn't keep your eyes off him, you couldn't [I]stand[/I] to be away from him." Said Harry grinning broadly. Hermione blushed furiously, and stomped up to the girls' dormitory.  
  
"I won again!" Ron smiled. "Sixth time in a row." Niki muttered. Lizzy sat next to Harry, who put an arm around her, which made Ginny turn red in anger.  
  
"It's another Hogsmeade weekend." Ginny mumbled. "Good. I can finally buy some more polish for my Firebolt."  
  
Hermione soon came back with a book in her hand (to no one's surprise) and sat at her usual armchair.  
  
"What's wrong, Herm?" Ron asked. Hermione glared at him.  
  
"You know perfectly well 'what'." Said Hermione coolly. ~**~ Chapter 13 - Ron and Niki ~**~  
  
They had finally gotten their things together, and walked out of the common room.  
  
"You going to buy anything at Hogsmeade, Liz?" Harry asked.  
  
"I don't know. I'll just look at the Quidditch shop or something." She smiled. Ginny came along behind them.  
  
"Hello." She said cheerfully to the others, besides Lizzy. "Hi, Lizzy." Ginny muttered angrily.  
  
They entered the entrance hall and met up with Filch and the other students. He called out all of their names to make sure everyone was there.  
  
"So," he said. "No one sneaking in.again." He grinned evilly and led them out of Hogwarts.  
  
Not long after that, they had soon entered the grounds of Hogsmeade. Witches and Wizards were walking along the cobblestone streets, entering shops and exiting them.  
  
"Lizzy and I will be at the Quidditch shop." Said Harry smiling. So, the two ran.  
  
"I'll go into the Bookshop (if there is one), they've got a new Charms book." Said Hermione quickly. She waved to them and left as well.  
  
"So, what do you want to do?" Ron asked, looking around. "We could go to the Three Broomsticks." Said Niki.  
  
"Ok!" Ron agreed. So, they went inside the Three Broomsticks, and Lizzy gave a small wink to Niki from along the streets. They walked inside and it was crowded with Hogwarts students.  
  
"There's nowhere to sit!" Niki sighed. "Over there." Ron pointed out. He led her to a table right beside the window that had just been finished cleaning up (makes no sense does it? Lol)  
  
"I-I'll go get the Butter beers." Said Niki nervously. She got up from the table and went to the counter until someone tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Lizzy! Harry! What're you doing here?!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were going to Quality Quidditch Supplies?"  
  
"We decided not to. We just wanted to see what was gunna happen with you and Ron." said Lizzy cheerfully.  
  
"You were going to spy on us?" "Er-no. Yes. I don't know!" "Well, why don't you just leave? What ever happens is none of your business!" Niki snapped. Two butter beers appeared in front of her. Niki grabbed them angrily and walked back to the table, to see Ron smiling at her.  
  
"Who were you talking to?" he asked curiously. "N-no one." Niki took a sip of her drink until she heard a large crash of trash cans from the back room. Ron nearly choked. He ran up from the table, Niki by her side.  
  
"HARRY, LIZZY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" he yelled. "Going to the bathroom." Lizzy lied. "When there's one in the other shops?" "Out of order." Harry muttered. "They were trying to sp-" Niki began. "We were just leaving! We'll leave you two alone to your little date." Lizzy smiled.  
  
"What is [I] with [/I] them lately?" Ron wondered. Niki shrugged. They brushed past the other people and finally got to their table in peace.  
  
They began talking, but still heard more crashes from the back room. Not much later, Lizzy and Harry were dragged out of the shop. Ron looked at Niki, then they burst out laughing.  
  
About an hour later, the Three Broomsticks was nearly empty.everything was quiet. Ron and Niki stared at each other for a moment. "Uh.we better get going." Ron said. "Yeah." Niki whispered. They grabbed their things and left the shop to meet up with the others.  
  
"So, what did you do in the Three Broomsticks?" Lizzy teased. "Is that any of your business?" Niki snapped. "Well, SORRY!" Deep down, Niki didn't want to tell Lizzy she liked Ron.  
  
"So, what did you do?" Lizzy bugged her at lunch. "Nothing!" Niki screeched. Lizzy glared at her. Harry looked out the window, his arm wrapped around Lizzy's waist (too bad I'm not Lizzy. LOL!). His snowy white owl came to him, she seemed to be carrying a letter. Harry smiled at the sight of her. She nipped his ear and flew off. Harry tore open the letter. A newspaper clipping and a letter fell out. Harry's eyes grew wide with shock.at what it said. [B] SIRIUS BLACK CAUGHT! [/B] [Normal] Sirius Black, former Azkaban Prisoner has been caught by Hogwarts Teacher Professor Severus Snape, and former Hogwarts Governor Lucius Malfoy. Here' what they had to say: "We found Black hiding in the Forbidden Forest," says Severus. "We drew out our wands and stunned him. He begged for us to not do this to him." "I would have to say the same thing as Severus." Comments Lucius.  
  
So, there you have it! Black has been caught and each of them will receive 1,000 galleons! [/Normal]  
  
Harry nearly ripped the newspaper clipping in anger. "What's wrong?" Lizzy asked, taking the clipping. Everyone gathered around her to read it. "Wait a minute, who's Sirius?" Lizzy asked. Harry sighed heavily. "He's my godfather. He and my dad were best friends. Everyone thought he had murdered people, but he was innocent. It was Peter Pettigrew.and-" Lizzy nodded. "I see."  
  
Harry took out the letter: [I] Harry, I'm not sure if you remember me. My name Is (what's a good name fer an elf that Starts with an 'A'?).I am an elf. We have met before.I came into your room And gave you that emerald jewel. You will learn how and when to use it When the time comes! For now.Sirius Will be in Azkaban for a long time, No way rescuing him. It is to dangerous, Harry. Take Care, ****** (don't know a name, so I'll put little stars. Lol) [/I]  
  
"Harry," Ron said. "Y-you met an elf?" "Yeah, I didn't know she was at first. She told me about a warning." "You-know-who's back?" Niki guessed. Harry nodded. ~**~ Chapter 14 - Azkaban ~**~  
  
"I just hope Sirius will be okay!" said Hermione sadly. "I may never see him again." Harry said. "Don't say that, Harry! Don't say that! You [I]will[/I] get to see him again! I'll make sure of that!" said Niki.  
  
"Oh, yeah? How?" "Go to Azkaban ourselves!" said Niki cheerfully. "WHAT?!" Harry choked. "We can go and free him!" said Lizzy. "You guys." Hermione said. "What, Herm?" "You know, we'd be breaking thousands of rules." said Hermione uncertainly.  
  
"Yeah, but at least we can help Sirius!" said Ron. "But-" "So you'd rather Sirius be in there than be free?" Harry said angrily. "No, but-" "Hermione! Just help us! The more help we get, the better!" "Oh, all right! Only because I care about Sirius!" Hermione said. "Good!" Ron said. "So, how'll we get there with out everyone noticing? And where [I]is[/I] Azkaban?" Everyone turned to Hermione. "Well, I suppose we can leave at 1:30. Filch is usually gone by then, and in his office. But he comes back out at 1:45. We can go through the entrance hall and up to Hogsmeade station. I'll explain everything when we get there." Said Hermione happily.  
  
"What day do we leave?" "TODAY!" "Hermione, isn't that a little sudden?" "What do you mean?" "We just found out he's gone and we leave the same day!" "1:30 is tomorrow, not today!" "You know what I mean!" "Don't you want Sirius out sooner, Harry?" "Yes." "Then, we leave tonight!" "Alright!" At about 1:00, everyone was waiting silently in the common room. "What about classes tomorrow?" Ron remembered suddenly. Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth.  
  
"That's right!" "Hermione." "Fine, I'll come help you with Sirius!" 1:30 grew nearer. "We should get ready." Lizzy whispered. Harry nodded. They grabbed their cloaks, and walked to the portrait hole. Harry pushed it forward and they left. "Follow me." Hermione whispered. She looked again, there was a faint light from the moon. "This way." They followed Hermione, their wands out in front of them. They had finally reached the entrance hall and Hermione pulled the doors open. A cold breeze swept through them, as Hermione led them up a hill to Hogsmeade station.  
  
"But, the only way to get there is by using the boats," said Niki. "And they aren't here!"  
  
"Follow me! There's a hidden path!" Hermione hissed. She led them into a patch of large trees and sure enough, there was a path to Hogsmeade station.  
  
"Look! I see the boats!" Lizzy squealed. They ran toward the boats.but the problem was.there was only one, and enough room for three people.  
  
"Now what do we do?!" Niki exclaimed. "Uh.three of us go into the boat, the rest of us go on the Hogwarts express?" "But, we don't know how to control it! Plus, the boats look so small it probably won't hold our weight anymore!" said Harry. "Then we'll all go onto the train." Said Hermione. She led them up to the train and pulled open the door. "Come on, you guys!" Hermione sat in the driver's seat, and tapped the headboard with her wand. The others scrambled inside and sat in the isles or compartments. Niki and Ron ran to the back of the train, in the middle of the isle and played a game of wizard chess. Meanwhile.  
  
Harry and Lizzy were hiding behind the front compartment, hoping Ron or Niki couldn't see them.  
  
"You think something's going to happen?" Lizzy whispered. "I don't know! Let's just see!" Harry hissed. They watched for another 15 minutes and so far nothing happened. "Ron has one 3 games so far! Can we just go now?" Lizzy complained. "No!" Lizzy and Harry watched intently to wait. "If they find out we're here, they're going to kill us, Harry!" "Look!" "What?" "RON AND NIKI!" "Don't scream! What about them?" "Just look!" "I can't hear anything!" "Then look at them!" "You've sat the word 'look' three times!" "Oh, shut up!" "Make me!" Harry elbowed her, and they continued to watch. "Something's happening!" So far, only Ron and Niki were staring at each other. "STARING at each other! Oh brother!" "That's what happened with us!" "No, you just kissed me! I went along with it!" "Oh, that's harsh!" "No. Not really." Lizzy smiled. "NOW LOOK! Yes, four times." Ron had just kissed Niki(Harry was pretending to throw up. Hard to imagine him doing that! There'll be more romance between Ron and Niki soon!) "AWWWWWW!" Lizzy said. "Come on!" Lizzy and Harry walked toward them as they quickly broke apart. "Hello!" said Lizzy sweetly. "N-n-n-nothing happened!" "Of course it did, Ronnie! ("Don't call me Ronnie!") You had barley started to like Niki, and went on a date ONCE.and now you're.YEAH!" "Lizzy, you've gone insane! No, nothing happened." "Then how come we saw the whole thing?" Harry blurted out. "YOU WERE SPYING ON US?!" "Sorry." "BUT WHY?!  
  
"SORRY!" There was a large BANG, and everyone flew forward. Harry raced up to the front of the train, everyone else tagging along. Steam was billowing up from the front.  
  
"Hermione, what did you do to it?!" "I didn't mean to! It just.broke!" "Now what do we do?" Hermione tapped her wand on the front, but nothing happened.  
  
"We can always walk." "Hermione, there's an ocean or sea surrounding Azkaban!" said Ron. "We'll think of something!" Said Hermione, hopping out of the train.  
  
They walked on the side of the train track, through mud, rain pouring down hard on their faces.  
  
"W-we n-nearly there y-yet?" Niki asked. "No, it's about over quite a few hours and it's been 15 minutes." Said Hermione, her arms clutching her cloak tighter.  
  
"A f-few hours! Hermione, we'll n-never get there!" said Ron angrily.  
  
"Y-yes we will!" "Yeah, and we'll be 100 years old b-by th-then." "Harry, Ron, I told you I'd think of something! Now k-keep your m-mouth shut!"  
  
They walked on for another hour, but saw no sign of a way to get to Azkaban.  
  
"Hermione." "Lizzy, I'm still thinking." "My feet are nearly numb and I can barley walk! Can we just turn back!" Hermione turned around furiously. "Lizzy, we have come so far and we're not going to give up just yet! Sirius is counting on us-well, at least I think he is.besides, I see the ocean that surrounds Azkaban." Said Hermione proudly.  
  
"That ocean isn't on a map. "Of course not! Come on!" Hermione ran, the other trailing behind her. "This boat's large enough for all of us! And there's extra room!" They climbed in, and Hermione took a paddle and got inside.  
  
"Come on!" She repeated. The others climbed in, and Harry took the other paddle. "Ron, untie that." Hermione said, pointing to the rope that was tied around a large pole. Ron and Lizzy got out from the boat, and pushed it into the water, and climbed back in quickly.  
  
"Do you know the way, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Yes, it's straight ahead." Said Hermione.  
  
"I'm bored." Ron moaned. "Ron, it's been 5 minutes!" "Yeah, and I'm bored. Can you imagine I had my exploding snap game?" "You brought it?" Niki asked. "No, I already had it with me." Said Ron brightly. Hermione rolled her eyes, as Ron, Lizzy, and Niki managed to play a game without the cards falling down on the rocking boat. "Are we there yet?" Lizzy asked. "Lizzy! That is the 4th time you have asked that in 30 seconds!" Harry laughed.  
  
"It's going to be a while," said Hermione, as the tower of cards blew up.  
  
"How long then?" Niki asked impatiently.  
  
"I'm not sure." Said Hermione.  
  
After a few games of exploding snap, a few hours later, they finally came to what looked like a large castle.  
  
"That was quick," Said Ron happily. "You sure this is it?" "Positive." They ran across the damp grass, and up to Azkaban. Two Dementors were guarding the gates.  
  
"How do we get past?" Lizzy asked. Cold chills went down Harry's spine, as he took out his wand. "I know how." He walked about 20 feet from the Dementors and bellowed "EXPECTO PATRONUS!" A jet of silvery light shot out from his wand. The Dementors tried to say on their post, but fled.  
  
"Harry," Ron said, "That was BRILLIANT!" Harry smiled and they walked inside.  
  
"Lot's of prisoners here, eh?" Niki said.  
  
"A DEMENTOR!" Ron bellowed. A Dementor was gliding slowly toward them. Harry dragged them all to behind a wall, and was surprised it didn't notice them.  
  
They got out from behind the wall, dodging here and there, from the dementors.  
  
Prisoners in their cells were so miserable in there. "I-I don't blame them." Lizzy shivered. They walked forth, but no dementors.  
  
"This way." Harry said. They walked down a steep set of stairs, and down a stone passage. Harry lit his wand.  
  
They heard screams from behind them, and up ahead.  
  
"Well, Sirius isn't here! Guess we gotta go!" said Ron quickly. "Ron," said Hermione, grabbing his shirt, "We are staying! Now come on!" "Shhh!" They entered a larger room, more prisoners.  
  
"How large is this place?" Ron whispered. "Ron, didn't you see the outside of it?" "Yeah." "Then that's how big!" "I read this it's larger.there's another castle in the back!" "WHAT?!" "We'll never find Sirius!" They heard a sudden familiar voice. "Ron, Hermione, Harry.is that you?" They whipped around and saw Sirius, looking out from the bars.  
  
"SIRIUS!" They ran toward him. "Sirius, this is Lizzy Richmond and Niki." (still don't have yer last name! You can make one up if u want.if u can't give me ur real one!) "You came all the way here to tell me that?" Sirius laughed. "No," said Harry, still excited about seeing him, "We've come to get you out!" "But, Harry, you can't do that, only the dementors can!" he said, in a worried tone.  
  
"We'll find a way!" Harry suddenly felt something drop in his pocket.  
  
"Harry-what is that-" "It's what that-er-elf gave to me. She said it was to destroy Voldemort-or help it at least." Said Harry, taking it out of his pocket.  
  
Harry looked around Sirius' cell and saw a slot of where to put it near the lock.  
  
"Well, here goes nothing," He put in the jewel and stepped back to see what would happen. The bars started to shake violently, and green mist was swirling around them. The bars suddenly fell off, and Sirius climbed out.  
  
"Harry," Lizzy breathed. "You did it!" Sirius hugged him a little too tight.  
  
"How do we get out?" he asked. "Same way." They led Sirius out of the dungeons and went to the upper floors.  
  
"Harry." Niki whispered. "Shhh!" "Harry, Si-" "WHAT?!" "Harry, Sirius is gone!" "WHAT?!?!?" "He was behind me a minute ago, and now he's gone!" "We've got to go back." "Harry, he probably went for a bathroom break!" Ron laughed. "A bathroom break?" Harry said. Lizzy, Hermione, and Niki burst out laughing. "SHHHHHHHH! COME ON!" They went back down the stairs again, and saw thousands of dementors surrounding Sirius.  
  
"Harry," Ron whispered. "They're performing it.the dementors kiss." Harry took out his wand and yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUS!" Nothing happened. There were too many of them.  
  
They turned around and walked toward him. Cold chills were swirling around him.he tried not to black out. He was blown backward.but not by the dementors. "Oh no, not that [I]thing[/I] again!" "You mean the Rittle, Ron." said Hermione. "Doesn't look like Riddle to me!" "Ron, Rittle! Not Riddle." "So?" "[I] Harry Potter," The Rittle whispered. "This is the end.[/I]" Harry had the sudden urge to asked 'end of what?' The Rittle walked closer toward Harry.  
  
"DO SOMETHING!" Harry screamed, as the Rittle threw the wand out of Harry's hand with a volt of blue light. Ron thought hard, and the only spell to come to his head was-  
  
"[I] AVIS! [/I]" 5 birds short out of his wand and flew away. "Birds?"  
  
"[I] Reducio! [/I]" Niki bellowed. The Rittle shrunk to the size of an ant.  
  
Harry went to grab his wand, and Niki found a jar laying on the floor. She stuffed the Rittle into the jar and put it in her pocket.  
  
"Sirius?" Harry whispered. "I assure you.Sirius is gone." Harry whipped around, there was a flash of a dark red light.and he was gone.  
  
"Harry?" Lizzy whispered. "H-he hasn't gone has he?" Niki asked worriedly. "He's still breathing. We have [I] got [/I] to get him to Hogwarts! And fast!" said Hermione.  
  
"But-Sirius-" "Ron, he's gone! We can come back. Sirius will care more about Harry's safety! Now come on!" They dragged Harry's body out of Azkaban, hiding from the dementors and finally got out.  
  
"There's the boat."  
  
They had finally gotten off the boats, and ran onto the train. Hermione took a spot in the driver's seat while the others sat in a compartment with Harry.  
  
"Will he be okay?" Lizzy asked, tears streaming down her face. "She'll be fine, Liz," said Ron, patting her on the shoulder. "We just need to get him to Hogwarts." With a loud BANG, the train started. "Looks like Herm got it to work." Said Niki proudly.  
  
Lizzy suddenly heard a tapping noise on the roof.  
  
"What is that?" she asked curiously. "I don't know." A swirl of blue, yellow, and red light were circling the train.  
  
"What's happening?!" The train started to shake violently, and Harry's body fell onto the floor.  
  
"HERMIONE," Ron called, above the noise. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" There was no answer from Hermione. Ron ran out of the compartment and saw Hermione, laying on the ground. "Hermione." he whispered. She was still breathing. Not much longer, Niki and Lizzy came running up to him. "What's wrong with Hermione?" "I don't know, but who's watching Harry?" Lizzy ran back to the compartment, and sighed in relief that his body was still there.  
  
There was a loud scream.coming from Ron! Lizzy dragged Harry with her out of the compartment, and kneeled next to Niki who was by Ron, crying.  
  
"What happened?" "I-I don't know! There was a flash of red light, from right behind me, and he was g-g-gone!" "We really need to get back! Something's happening to them!" "Well, duh!" "Oh, shut up." Lizzy got in front, Niki was watching her friends' bodies. The train started again, more lights were swirling around the train, which made it more difficult to get back.  
  
"Will we make it back?" "I sure hope so! It's nearly dinner time, it'll be midnight at the very least by the time we get back!" "But we haven't had [I]anything[/I] to eat!" "Niki, this isn't a time to think about food!"  
  
Lizzy drove the train faster down the tracks, the lights swirling faster.  
  
"Come on." Lizzy muttered to the train. She tapped it with her wand, and the train went full blast, barley avoiding the lights.  
  
"Lizzy, that was brilliant!" Niki exclaimed. Lizzy smiled brightly, and the train was growing closer to get to Hogwarts.  
  
"We may be there sooner!" she said. Lizzy was right, the train soon pulled into Hogsmeade station, the lights were gone, rain and hail pouring harder.  
  
"Let's follow the path Hermione showed us." They had managed to stack the bodies on top of each other (lying on their backs ppl! LOL!) And walked down the path.  
  
"How long of a detention do you think we'll get?" "Not sure. Wouldn't be surprised if it was for the rest of the year, I mean we did break a ton of rules." "Yeah, but we could have rescued Sirius." "But Mr. Malfoy and Snape were the ones who put him in Azkaban! That's why we'd get a longer detention." They had arrived on the ground of Hogwarts, and tried to run to the castle, but of all of the weight on their arms, they had to walk.  
  
"We're almost there." "Let's just make a run for it!" So, with that, they ran to Hogwarts, the bodies nearly slipping. They managed to pull the doors open, and enter Hogwarts soaking wet. "Let's take them to the hospital wing." They walked down the long corridors, and they didn't meet anyone. They walked up long, marble staircases and finally arrived.  
  
"Oh my goodness, what happened." "We were uh-" "More danger I expect?" "You see-" "Well," Niki cut in. "We were on the Hogwarts Express to go to Azkaban to-" "YOU WENT TO AZKABAN?!" "For a good reason-" "Miss Richmond, there is NOT a good reason to go there! You will see Professor Dumbledore while I find out what happens. And it's a good thing you got here in time, because I'm not sure how much longer they'll live!" Niki and Lizzy gasped. They ran to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Er-what's the password?" Lizzy asked. "I don't know! Well, uh.Lemon Drops?" The statue didn't budge? "Hogwarts?" Again, didn't budge. "Harry Potter?" "Lizzy!" "What?" "Butter Beer?" The statue shook suddenly and it opened. "Well, come on!"  
  
They walked up the stairs and into Dumbledore's office. He was sitting at his desk, writing a letter, and smiled at them.  
  
"Been at Azkaban?" he said frowning. "How did you-" "That, Miss Richmond, is another question one is unable to answer. But, you see, this is a magical world." "Professor Dumbledore," said Niki. "You're making absolutely so sense." "Niki!" "Lizzy!" "Show some respect!" Niki stuck her tongue out at Lizzy, and Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Yes, that is true. But, you went to Azkaban to rescue Sirius I believe?" "Yes, Professor." "It would have done no use. Dementors were set up on every grounds in the magical world, wearing disguises, or being invisible. He would never have gotten past them."  
  
"But do you still think Sirius is innocent?" "Yes, I do. I am trying to find another way for Sirius to be free. But you have to find Wormtail.to prove he is innocent."  
  
"But how will we find him, he's with Voldemort isn't he?" Dumbledore nodded. "Well, you must be off to your dormitories." "What about Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" "They will be just fine. You can visit them in the morning to see how they are doing." Lizzy and Niki nodded, and left.  
  
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Niki asked. "I sure hope so." Lizzy sighed.  
  
They said the password, and walked inside the common room. The room was deserted, the fire had gone out in the fireplace. They walked up the stairs and fell fast asleep. They awoke the next morning, bright and early on Tuesday. Lizzy rushed over to Niki's bed, and woke her up.  
  
"Wassamatter?" Niki mumbled. "We're going to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione!" said Lizzy happily. She tore off the blankets, and Niki rubbed her eyes.  
  
"Alright! Just wait in the common room while I get into my robes!" Lizzy smiled and walked down to the common room and sat down next to Seamus.  
  
"Er-hi, Lizzy." He muttered. Lizzy smiled weakly. "Where's Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" "Hospital Wing." "Why-" "It doesn't matter." Niki came down, carrying her books, and threw Lizzy's at her.  
  
"We can't miss class today! So we'll have to hurry!" They left once more and walked down the corridors.  
  
"I doubt they'll be awake." Lizzy said. "How do you know? Madam Pomfrey can fix anything! I'm sure they'll be awake." Niki pushed open the doors to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey was bustling around, cleaning the beds.  
  
"Here for Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger? They are on their beds. They had just woken up."  
  
Niki and Lizzy smiled at her, and ran to their beds. "HARRY!" Lizzy ran to his bed, and hugged him.a little too tight.  
  
"What happened?" he said, rubbing his head. "You don't know?" "Not really. All I remember is that we were on the Hogwarts Express going to Azkaban to free Sirius."  
  
"Yeah, and we were at Azkaban, the Rittle cast a spell on you, and you were gone."  
  
"I'm surprised I made it back here to Hogwarts. But why didn't they take my body when they had the chance?"  
  
"I'm not sure." "Lizzy?" Harry asked. "Yes?" "Did you manage to get Sirius after I had gotten the spell on me?" "No. The dementors wouldn't let us near him. We had to leave.and he was gone."  
  
"Well, let's just forget about it, and go to class!" said Hermione. They picked up their things and left the hospital wing.  
  
"We have double potions." Lizzy grunted.  
  
They walked down the stairs and into the cold dungeons. The Slytherins were packed outside the door.  
  
"Heard what happened on the train, Potter," said a Slytherin girl Harry had never seen before. "I'm surprised you didn't die." Harry glared at her, and the door burst open.  
  
Snape let them inside. Harry took his seat in the back, Snape smiled nastily at them.  
  
"I suppose he knows that we couldn't get Sirius out." Niki sighed. "We are working on our potions we were making from the beginning of the year! Get into your teams!" Harry grabbed his bag and took a seat next to Lizzy.  
  
"I feel bad for Ron?" Lizzy said. "Why?" "He's partnered with Malfoy." "I still don't get why he put us together." "Who cares? It doesn't matter anyway!" Lizzy grabbed out a book ([I]Moste Potente Potions [/I])and set it on the table.  
  
"I got this one out of the library. I wasn't sure if Snape would give the Gryffindors his own." She said happily. Harry flipped open the page and got out their cauldrons.  
  
"Ok, we have let this sit for about 3 weeks now, and only a few more weeks to go! Now we add Horn of a Bicorn. Well, good thing I brought that with me." Said Lizzy.  
  
"How'd you manage to get that? Are you sure that's even in the student store cupboard?"  
  
"Well, it matters that we got it, right?" Lizzy stirred the potion as Harry watched.  
  
"You have to do the work too you know." ~**~ Chapter 15 - Potions Disaster ~**~  
  
There was a loud BOOM, and it seemed that Neville's cauldron had just blown up. A blue potion (which was supposed to be red), covered everyone.  
  
"Longbottom, detention." "But-" "5 points from Gryffindor! IF you have been hit, come to my desk!" "It's not his fault," said Hermione angrily. "That Slytherin girl didn't even help him!" "You mean Pansy?" Niki asked. "No. I haven't seen her before. She was just letting Neville do all of the work!" The Slytherin girl and Neville walked up to Snape's desk and went to get the potion off of them.  
  
"Lizzy." Harry muttered. "What?" "Look at the potion!" "What about it, Harry? It's just fine." "No it's not! It's about to blow up!" "WHAT-" At that very second, Lizzy's cauldron blew up, and more potion covered everyone.  
  
"Richmond, Potter, DETENTION!"  
  
Malfoy was sniggering nearby, and Ron threw a unicorn horn at his head.  
  
"Weasley, detention. 10 points from Gryffindor!" "But I didn't do anything!" he lied. "Just for that, another 10 points!"  
  
"But Ron didn't do ANYTHING!" Niki yelled. "What is with Gryffindors today?! 50 points! DETENTION FOR ALL GRYFFINDORS IN 5TH YEAR!"  
  
Harry had gotten so mad, he threw about 5 unicorn horns at Snape's head.  
  
"Good idea, Harry!" said Seamus happily. Everyone began grabbing potion contents from their bags and throwing it at Snape and/or the Slytherins.  
  
Neville dumped his remaining potion in a small glass and poured it on Snape's head.  
  
"STOP!" Snape yelled. No one listened.  
  
"Harry," Hermione moaned. "We're going to get in a lot of trouble!" "No one said you had to do it, Herm!" said Ron, as he dumped slime on the Slytherin girl.  
  
"Come on, Stephanie." Malfoy muttered to the girl. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Lizzy bellowed. She ran to get some jars from the shelves that contained of eyeballs, and dumped them on their heads.  
  
"What did we ever do to you, you filthy Mud Blood!" Stephanie screamed. Lizzy stared at her for a moment. Tears filled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, is the Mud Blood going to cry?" Stephanie smirked. Lizzy's fists were clenched. She punched Stephanie right in the nose! Ron, Seamus, and Dean were cheering her on. Harry was trying to get her to stop, Hermione was trying to get everyone to stop, and Niki was rolling on the ground laughing.  
  
Harry finally managed to pull Lizzy back up, who had a black eye and a cut lip.  
  
"DON'T [I]EVER[/I] CALL ME A MUD BLOOD AGAIN!" "Lizzy? How did you know what that meant?" "Er-looked it up somewhere. Plus Hermione told me." Stephanie had fainted in Malfoy's arms. The disaster continued on. None of the other teachers showed up. Snape tried to leave, but the Gryffindors held him back.  
  
A dead rat hit Ron in the back of the head, causing Niki to fall down, and her to run into the desk. Seamus bumped into Harry, who fell on top of Lizzy.  
  
"Hiya, Harry!" she said happily. "Hey, Lizzy." He smiled. "You guys can get a room if you're going to be down there all day." Ron joked. Harry helped Lizzy up, and just as he was about to throw a frog spleen at Crabbe, Dumbledore burst into the room.  
  
"What is going on in here?" "Headmaster-they got out of control-" Snape began. "Severus, you could have stopped them instead of join the fight." He chuckled.  
  
"I tried to stop them, Headmaster, but-" Dumbledore put up a hand for silence. "You are the Professor here, Severus. If you can't control the class, you will have a weeks suspension from teaching! Oh, and one more thing. This class is dismissed!"  
  
Dumbledore swept from the room.  
  
"All Gryffindors will come here at 9:30 PM to clean up the mess for your detention!" The students groaned, and left the classroom.  
  
"It's Malfoy's fault," said Ron angrily. "He was the one who added in an extra ingredient into you're cauldron, so it would blow up!"  
  
"Why didn't you stop him then?" Niki said. "Tried. He kept it out of reach."  
  
"We got to get to Transfiguration! Professor McGonagall will get mad!" said Hermione.  
  
"We know that, Hermione!" Ron laughed. They walked down to Transfiguration and Lizzy stopped suddenly.  
  
"We're going to be there a half an hour early," she said. "So how would she get mad?"  
  
"Good point, Lizzy! Want to bother Filch?" Ron said.  
  
"Ron," said Hermione. "You're turning into Fred and George!" Before Ron could say another word, there was a loud 'BANG'; Fred and George had just come running down from Filch's office.  
  
"What did you do?" Niki laughed. "We set off a few dung bombs in Filch's office." Said Fred quickly, as Filch was funning down the hall after them, Mrs. Norris at his feet.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be in your class?" Hermione asked sternly.  
  
"Why aren't you?" Fred asked. Hermione stared at him.  
  
"Snape-er-let us out early." "Ha!" said Fred. "He would rather kiss Malfoy than let any of the Gryffindors out early!"  
  
Ron and Harry burst out laughing.  
  
"Snape would kiss Malfoy?" Lizzy asked curiously. Niki smacked her in the back of the head.  
  
"Of course he wouldn't! I wouldn't be surprised but-" Ron and Harry laughed harder.  
  
"Come on! Let's just go and get some good seats!" Hermione said, as Fred and George left.  
  
"Eager for learning, aren't you, Hermione?" Harry joked. Hermione blushed furiously.  
  
They continued to walk to Transfiguration, Hermione in the lead.  
  
"Snape [I]would[/I] kiss Malfoy [I]before[/I] he let us out early?"  
  
Harry fell to the ground laughing.  
  
"What? It's not funny! I'm serious!"  
  
"Lizzy," he breathed. "You're so dumb-no offense!" he added hastily, seeing the shocked look on her face.  
  
Lizzy helped Harry up, and they continued to walk. They entered the classroom, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were giggling madly in the 3rd row.  
  
"Hermione, I'm surprised you aren't mad that Fred said that Snape would rather kiss Malfoy," said Niki cheerfully. "You [I]love[/I] him don't you?"  
  
"Oh be quiet! I don't like him! I just went to the dance with him!"  
  
"Then how come I saw you by the lake kis-" "Ok, ok, ok! Just be QUIET!" "Why should we be quiet, Herm?" Harry said seriously. "You're the one making all of the noise!"  
  
"I am not! Now shut up!" Professor McGonagall entered the classroom with a large stack of parchment, and the rest of the students filed in after her.  
  
"We're working on our O.W.L's today." She said. "But it's the beginning of the year still!" Seamus complained. "3rd week, Finnigan. We're studying for them, these are practice sheets."  
  
"Why are we working on Owls?" Lizzy asked. Harry snorted. "O.W.L's not Owls, Lizzy!" Niki laughed. "Yeah, and Hermione made a little thing called 'spew'" said Ron. "Ron, it was S.P.E.W!" "Or you could make one with L.D.K.A." "What's that?" "Lizzy doesn't know anything." Lizzy smacked Ron in the back of the head.  
  
Professor McGonagall passed around the papers and Lizzy stared at it.  
  
"How am I supposed to do this!" "See," Harry snig-gered. "Lizzy doesn't know anything!" Lizzy sighed heavily and guessed all of the answers.  
  
"Those are all right, Lizzy!" said Hermione proudly. "Why are you looking off my paper, Hermione? You could copy and get them all wrong!"  
  
"She doesn't need to copy, Liz! She'll get them right anyway!" said Niki. Hermione blushed.  
  
"Keep taking, Niki (I STILL NEED UR LAST NAME!! Lol. It could come in useful! Lol. [supergrin]), and you'll get points taken from Gryffindor." Said Professor McGonagall sternly.  
  
Class soon ended about an hour later, and Professor McGonagall gathered the papers and set them on her desk.  
  
"We'll be working on Transfiguring larger items tomorrow." She said.  
  
They left the room and went to walk to lunch.  
  
"I wonder what I'm getting for Christmas." Niki sighed.  
  
"Niki, it's nearly October and you're worrying about Christmas?"  
  
"On Halloween you should get presents." Lizzy said; they were both completely ignoring Ron. They sat down at the table and began to eat.  
  
Dumbledore tapped his goblet gently with his spoon and stood up. The hall went quiet immediately.  
  
"Since we had so much fun at the ball in the beginning of the year, we decided to hold another," he looked around the room, and continued. "You can-but don't have to-wear costumes. Muggles wear them and well, we-er- thought it would be interesting to try it out. The dance is on Halloween ("Well, DUH!" Lizzy said annoyingly.) and it will start at 8:30 and end at 12:00. You are all expected to be in bed around 1:30, no exceptions!"  
  
Dumbledore sat back down, and the girls stood up and cheered, and the boys groaned.  
  
"WE MIGHT EVEN GET PRESENTS!" Lizzy said loud enough, the whole school heard and went quiet for a brief moment. Lizzy blushed and the girls continued to clap louder.  
  
"Another ball?" Ron groaned.  
  
"Oh, Ron! Don't be such a party pooper!" said Hermione cheerfully.  
  
"Why? Or are you going with Krum to the ball again?" Hermione blushed furiously.  
  
"No I'm not! And besides, I don't like him!" said Hermione indignantly.  
  
"Well, it's a good thing it's [I]another[/I] Hogsmeade weekend! We can go get some costumes there!" said Niki happily.  
  
"You sure they'd have them?" Lizzy said. "Yup."  
  
Later that night, everyone was in the common room working on homework.  
  
"We don't have Hogsmeade this weekend." Harry grunted.  
  
"What do you mean?" Lizzy asked, not taking her eyes of an Arithmancy chart.  
  
"Well, we have Quidditch Practice.so, I think it would be the week after that."  
  
"Harry," Ron said, putting down his Potions homework. "We have our Quidditch match the Friday after that! We'll only be able to go to Hogsmeade the week before the dance!"  
  
"Who're we playing?" Harry asked.  
  
"You should know.you're captain."  
  
"Aren't we playing Ravenclaw?"  
  
"Yeah. We have to win to Ravenclaw, then they have to loose to Hufflepuff.which I doubt will happen.then they play Slytherin.Slytherin looses.we play Hufflepuff for the cup!" Harry stared at him.  
  
"That makes completely no sense. Why can't you just ask Fred or George? Maybe [I] they [/I] know something!" ~**~ Chapter 16 - Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher ~**~  
  
"You guys!" Hermione said suddenly. "I just remembered! We were supposed to go to the dungeons and clean out the room for Snape!"  
  
"Why would we do that, Hermione?" Niki asked.  
  
"We have detention! Remember?"  
  
"Well, we'll just clean it today! We do have him first ya know." Said Lizzy. Harry groaned, and he picked up his stuff and they ran to potions.  
  
Harry led them down to the dungeons. Snape was standing by the door; the Slytherins had already entered the classroom.  
  
"None of you came to detention!" he said. "W-we forgot." Lizzy mumbled. "Forgot? Well that's 50 points from Gryffindor and an extra detention!" Ron was about ready to pull out his wand until Niki stopped him.  
  
"Don't," she whispered. "We'll get a longer detention!" They walked into the classroom; the Slytherins laughing at them.  
  
"It wasn't very funny when Ron (I think) threw a rat spleen at you, now was it?" said Lizzy. The Slytherins stopped laughing and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lizzy, and Niki sat in the back.  
  
"Get into your groups," said Snape lazily. "You'll we working on your potions again." Lizzy smiled and sat next to Harry at a different table.  
  
"We're almost done with it." Said Lizzy happily. "How much longer?" Harry asked. "I'm not sure, maybe in a week. But, do we have to test this?" "Snape [I] always [/I] makes us test things, Liz." Said Harry.  
  
"You're potions should be ready by tomorrow." Said Snape nastily. "What! It's supposed to be ready in a week!" Lizzy screamed.  
  
"You should have thought about that before!"  
  
"I just wanna dump this on Snape's head!" said Lizzy angrily.  
  
"I doubt you'd do it, Lizzy!" Harry laughed.  
  
"One day I will, Harry! He will do something so [I] horrible [/I] that I would do something worse in return."  
  
"What if he killed someone?" Harry joked.  
  
"Then-er-I'd-oh never mind!" Harry smiled.  
  
The class had finally ended and Niki stopped.  
  
"Did you guys notice that we haven't had a Dark Art's class yet?"  
  
"Yeah.but there was no new teacher at the staff table!" said Lizzy.  
  
"Well," said Hermione. "We have it right now! We can see who our Dark Art's teacher is!"  
  
They walked down the long corridors, turned the corners, and went down a few passages and finally managed to get into the classroom. Hermione pulled the door open. Harry stopped dead at who the teacher was! It was Mrs. Figg, the old lady that lived with a ton of cats, and took care of Harry when the Dursley's were away! Harry stood there with his mouth dropped.  
  
"It's good to see you again, Harry." She said smiling. Harry stood there, unable to move.  
  
"Are you ok?" she asked. Harry couldn't move, he stood there rooted to the spot. Lizzy and Ron dragged him to a desk in the middle and Mrs. Figg began the lesson.  
  
"I am your new teacher Professor Figg (haha! Funny name! Gotta get used to calling her Professor Figg now. Lol).  
  
"Why weren't you here at the first of the year?" Seamus Finnigan asked.  
  
"I-er-had some important business to attend with Professor Dumbledore. So, today we are going to study a certain creature called a Lethifold. Can anyone tell me what it does?" To no one's surprise.Hermione raised her hand at once.  
  
"Miss Granger!" "The Lethifold.(I fergot what it does! EEEP!)" "Very good! 10 points to Gryffindor!" "We won't see a Lethifold will we?" Niki squealed. "No, since they are so rare, we won't be able to see them. They are [I] very [/I] dangerous so that is why."  
  
The lesson finally ended and EVERYONE was talking about it.  
  
"So, Harry, why were you acting all surprised?" Lizzy asked.  
  
"Well, I thought she was a Muggle! She lived across the street from me and I went to her house when the Dursley's were gone.I just don't know why she couldn't have told me I was a wizard before."  
  
"Maybe the Dursley's knew something about her and didn't want her blabbing out everything that you were a wizard!" Hermione suggested.  
  
"If they knew she was a witch, Hermione, then they wouldn't have let me stayed at her house!" They walked down to the Entrance Hall, and Niki pulled the doors open. They walked across the lawns to go to Hagrid's Hut.  
  
Harry banged on the door, and Hagrid answered it.  
  
"Good ter see yeh!" he said cheerfully, letting them in. "You haven' been down ter me hut in a while!"  
  
"We've been busy with school and Quidditch." Said Harry. Hagrid smiled.  
  
"Starts in 2 weeks?" Ron nodded.  
  
"Congrats on makin' the team, Ron. You guys did great on the las' game!" Ron's ears turned red. "So, you guys have my class next!"  
  
"What're we working on?" said Niki excitedly. "Thas' a surprise!" "Tell us!" "I'm not tellin' yeh that we're working on Unicorns!" Lizzy's eyes widened, then she fainted. "Lizzy, Lizzy! Are you alright?" Someone was slapping her face.  
  
"Wh-what happened?" "Hagrid said we were working on Unicorns then you fainted!" said Hermione.  
  
"Oh, yeah! Well, I've heard about Unicorns and I've always wanted to meet one, so it was a complete shock and surprise to me!"  
  
"Well, you'll finally get ter see one!" said Hagrid proudly. Lizzy smiled.  
  
"But Hagrid.we learned about Unicorns last year." Said Hermione. Hagrid frowned.  
  
"Well, we'll learn more about 'em! We'll learn how ter take care of 'em. Well, class is abou' ter start, so, jus' go on out there and wait. I'll be out in a minute." With that, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lizzy, and Niki went out to wait by the lawn. The Gryffindors were already there and the Slytherins were approaching them.  
  
"You visiting that oaf again?" said the drawing voice of Draco Malfoy. "What did you say about him!" said Ron angrily. Malfoy smirked. "That the oaf is a-" Before he could say another word, Ron punched him right in the nose.  
  
"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Lizzy and Harry yelled. Niki smacked them in the back of the head. Hermione went to go and get Hagrid, and he pulled them apart.  
  
"Fight again, Ron, Malfoy I'll give yeh two detentions! Now follow me!" Ron punched Malfoy in the stomach before following Hagrid.  
  
"Ok, today, we're going ter take care of Unicorns! You'll all take care of one of yer own! So, go out and pick one, then come back to me and I'll give yeh the collar." Harry ran to get a Unicorn. There were so many to choose from. He chose the one nearest to him, that looked kind and gentle, but had sparkling blue eyes. He brought it over to Hagrid, and he put a leash on it.  
  
"Ok, Harry, this one is a Female.so.jus' name is!. Jus' wait over by the fence for the others." Behind him, Harry noticed there was a large fence and a few buckets filled with food and water. Harry had decided to call his Unicorn Magic.  
  
Lizzy came over and stood next to Harry.  
  
"What did you name yours?" Harry asked. "Lily," Lizzy smiled. "After your mother." "How-how did you know that, that was her name?" "Hermione told me." Harry kissed her gently and Lizzy blushed.  
  
Niki came with her Unicorn-which was also Female-and it's name was Mystic. Ron had a male named Mystic Magic (OOO! Two names put together! And a lot like my old s/n! lol) Hermione's was Snow Flake, and she kept blurting out Snow Ball or Fur Ball. ~**~ Chapter 17 - Unicorns ~**~  
  
Hagrid had told them that they had to feed them and let them roam inside the fence.  
  
"Maybe if you take care of them well enough," said Hagrid. "They migh' even let yeh right 'em!"  
  
"But, Hagrid," said Hermione worriedly. "We can't ride them!"  
  
"Hermione, yeh can ride 'em! Jus' don't kill 'em, or hurt 'em!" he joked. "Now, yer goin' ter feed 'em! Walk over to the two buckets and put them in a few large bowls, and see if they eat it!" Harry led Magic over to the fence and got out a large bowl of food and water for her.  
  
Ron suddenly burst out laughing as 3 Unicorns were attacking Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy. Hagrid chuckled.  
  
"What did yeh do ter 'em?" Hagrid said angrily.  
  
"I think they whacked them upside the head." Said Lavender, frowning. Hermione frowned as well.  
  
"Is Hermione gonna cry now since Draco's in trouble?" Ron teased. Hermione hit him in the arm.  
  
"Malfoy!" said Hagrid. "Yeh can't keep hittin' all of them animals! 5 points from Slytherin!"  
  
"5 points from Slytherin!" Niki squealed. "I could sing!"  
  
"Don't." Ron said. (Heehee. I luv that part in the first book.) Most of the Gryffindors were cheering. Niki had kissed Ron in front of everyone (OOOOO! Lol), which made Ron turn a dark red.  
  
"It's not [I] that [/I] funny!" said Hermione.  
  
"You're only saying that because you love Malfoy!" Harry snig[CFF33FF][/COLOR]gered. Hermione blushed furiously.  
  
"Ok, thas' enough. Now, you'll get to ride 'em!" said Hagrid.  
  
"What if they hurt us?" Lizzy asked.  
  
"Well too bad for you." Ron smiled. Lizzy elbowed him.  
  
"Well, that means yer doin' somethin' wrong. Come to me and I'll try ter help yeh." Everyone had brought their Unicorns in one big circle. Hagrid strode over to the fences.  
  
"Now, it's like riding a horse." Said Hagrid.  
  
"What's a horse?" Ron asked. Harry snorted.  
  
"A Muggle animal. Now, horses have saddles. But you won't use them on Unicorns."  
  
"Why?" Niki asked.  
  
"Because we don't have any and Unicorns are a lot stronger than horses are, so they won't need 'em."  
  
"But how do we got on to them?" asked Parvati.  
  
"Thas' the tricky part. You got ter put your hands over it's back, jump up, try not to hurt the Unicorn with your weight pushing against it's back, then swing your leg over and you're on!" Harry did exactly as Hagrid directed. He pet his Unicorn, then pushed up- not hurting her-then swung his leg over.  
  
"Harry! Yeh got it!" said Hagrid proudly. "You all got ter try too!" Lizzy and Ron climbed up on theirs next. Lizzy strode Lily over to Harry and waited for Ron to come by. He came by, but Malfoy had fallen off of his Unicorn. Niki burst out laughing. She got onto Mystic and waited. Hermione jumped off as quickly as she could and went to Malfoy.  
  
"You think she really likes him?" Niki asked.  
  
"Probably." Harry answered. As soon as Malfoy was back on, Hermione got back on too.  
  
"Ok, you can walk around the fence and inside of it. Once yeh get the hang of it, I'll allow you ter run then go outside of the fence if you really know what yer doin'! So, go on!"  
  
"Hagrid!" said Lizzy suddenly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"How do we stop them?"  
  
"Er-well, if you put in all of yer weight down, the Unicorn will slow down too." Said Hagrid happily. Lizzy nodded. "Now off yeh go!"  
  
"I never thought Hagrid would ever let us ride Unicorns! They usually are so fast we'll never even get near one!"  
  
"They're fast?" said Lizzy. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Incredibly fast. To get away from anything that's trying to hurt them." About a few minutes later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Niki, and Lizzy were now running their Unicorns all over the outside of the castle.  
  
The first years at Herbology were staring at them.  
  
"Look at that pretty Unicorn!" one of them squealed.  
  
"Harry, isn't it going a little to fast!"  
  
"Yeah! But don't refer your Unicorn as an 'it'."  
  
"Sorry! How do you stop this thing? I'm trying and Lily's about to hit that tree!"  
  
Lily ran toward the tree, closer and closer.  
  
"Well, next time you'll see me, Harry, I'll be in the hospital wing!" They were about 2 inches from the tree and Lily was going to fast. At that very second, she skidded to her right and Lizzy finally managed to stop her.  
  
"So, how did yeh like it?" Hagrid asked. Lizzy didn't answer. She climbed off Lily and stared at Hagrid for a moment, then she fainted. Luckily, Harry caught her.  
  
"What happened?" Hagrid asked.  
  
"Her Unicorn went wild." Harry answered. Hagrid chuckled.  
  
"Well, she'll be find in a few minutes. She not the on'y one that this has happened before." Lizzy's eyes suddenly snapped open.  
  
"Am I in heaven? OH NO! RON'S HERE! I'M IN THE OTHER PLACE!" she joked. Lizzy stood up and brushed the dirt off of her. Ron smacked her in the back of the head. Lizzy smiled.  
  
"My head hurts."  
  
"You fainted." Said Harry smiling. "I'm not surprised." Said Lizzy, rubbing her head.  
  
"Well, thas' all fer today," Said Hagrid smiling. "You'd better head up ter yer next classes." Harry grabbed his books and they walked back up to the castle.  
  
"What do we have next?" Ron asked.  
  
"Divination." Harry groaned.  
  
"Well, I've got Arithmancy. I'll see you later!" said Hermione.  
  
"Hey, Lizzy," Niki asked. "Didn't you take Arithmancy too?"  
  
"I dropped it because my schedule was too big and I couldn't get to my classes." Said Lizzy. They walked up the stone steps, and Harry pulled the doors open. He led them down a few corridors and flights of stairs, until they arrived at the hidden entrance to the Divination classroom. Parvati lowered it. She and Lavender climbed in first, sitting as close to Trelawny as possible. Harry and Lizzy climbed in next, followed by Ron and Niki. They sat in the middle and Professor Trelawny emerged from the shadows.  
  
"Welcome," she said in an audible whisper. "We are going to be doing something new." She pulled out a large deck of cards from her desk.  
  
"Tarot Cards." She said firmly.  
  
"I've read about those!" said Lizzy. "But I never knew we'd be studying it, or that it was magic!"  
  
Trelawny passed around 6 cards to each person.  
  
"Each card has a small picture on the front. Turn them over, and do not look at them. You will shuffle the cards 3 times, still turned over, mix them up, shuffle them 2 more times, mix them up, and turn them over to see what you have. If you have any trouble, look in your books, or ask me."  
  
Harry turned over the cards and shuffled them, and watched Lizzy do the same. He mixed them up, shuffled them 2 more times. He mixed them up and turned them over.  
  
He saw a bright green clover, with a small symbol under it, he saw a dark red heart, with another symbol under it, he saw what looked like a teardrop, and all of the cards had symbols under it, a sword, a sun, and what looked like two skulls. Harry scrambled around his bag for his book, then turned it to page 346. It showed the symbols of the cards. He read: [I] 1- Heart stands for lover 2- Tear Drop stands for sadness/tragic 3- Clover stands for luck 4- a Sun stands for happiness 5- A Sword stands for danger 6- A skull stands for death of yourself 7- Two skulls stand for the death of friend 8- A pot of gold stands for money. You will become rich. [/I] [B] The symbols underneath the cards are in a different language. They say what the card is. [/B]  
  
Harry set his cards down, and panicked. One of his friends was going to die? But who? Trelawny strode over to him and gasped.  
  
"You will have the death of a friend!" she breathed. "But you will face tragic, danger, luck, and happiness." Harry wanted to ask which friend was going to die.  
  
"Wanting to know which friend?" she asked. "You need to find out on your own." Ron, Lizzy, and Niki looked at Harry.  
  
"I'm going to die!" Ron moaned.  
  
"Shut up, Ron! For all we know, it could be Lizzy!" she laughed.  
  
"I don't want to even think about it! It could be you ya know!"  
  
"Or.Hermione." "Harry," Ron squealed. "Look!" He pointed down to one of his cards and saw one with a pot of gold. Harry smiled.  
  
"Wonder where you're going to get that?" Harry said.  
  
"Who cares! I'm going to be rich!"  
  
"Trelawny hasn't predicted a real one, so for all we know, these cards could not really happen." Said Niki.  
  
"She told a real one in my 3rd year." Said Harry slowly.  
  
"What was it about?" Lizzy asked.  
  
"Long story," Ron answered for him. "It's complicated."  
  
"Does it have to do with Sirius?" Niki whispered.  
  
"Sort of. Has to do with Peter Pettigrew-Wormtail. The one who put him in Azkaban in the first place." Lizzy and Niki shivered.  
  
"You went to Azkaban?" squealed Lavender from behind them.  
  
"N-no!" said Lizzy.  
  
"But you were just talking about it.about Peter -er- well, some guy named Peter." Said Parvati.  
  
"So you [I] were [/I] listening?" said Niki.  
  
"No! We were just listening!" Lizzy snorted.  
  
"I mean - well, you know what we mean!"  
  
"What did you hear?"  
  
"We told you!"  
  
"All of it you little -"  
  
"LIZZY!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"So, what did you hear?"  
  
"Ok! I'll tell you! Something about - er - Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Azkaban." Said Lavender. "So, why would to want to talk about Black anyway?" Parvati asked.  
  
"Er- no reason!" Harry lied quickly.  
  
"We'll leave it here for today." Said Trelawny. Everyone picked up their bags and headed down the trap door.  
  
"You think they know something?" Niki asked.  
  
"Who cares!" said Lizzy. "We've got Charms next!" Lizzy smiled, and fled down the corridors, bumping into a few people and went to Charms.  
  
"She likes Charms, doesn't she?"  
  
"Yup." Harry laughed.  
  
"What're we doing in Charms today?" said Hermione, coming up from behind them.  
  
"We'd expect you to know, Herm." Ron said, grinning.  
  
"Whatever," Hermione mumbled. "Where's Lizzy?"  
  
"She ran to Charms the minute I asked if Parvati and Lavender knew something about Black, because they heard us talking." Niki blurted out.  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"N-nothing!"  
  
"You guys, they could have found something out!"  
  
"Well, duh!"  
  
"Oh, shut up!" Harry walked inside the classroom and saw Lizzy was already there in the front row.  
  
"Oh, hello," she said softly. "How wonderful it is for you to come." Ron snorted. Harry laughed and took a seat by her.  
  
"Think she's hyper?" Niki whispered to Hermione. Hermione nodded. Not much longer, the rest of the students came in the class and sat down.  
  
"Today," said Professor Flitwick. "We are going to learn how to blow up things-" Hermione raised her hand.  
  
"Miss Granger?"  
  
"Isn't blowing up things for Dark Arts?" she asked.  
  
"S-sort of. But that's only if you do it to another person! Now, we're going to try on things such as pillows, quills, old cauldrons and much, much more. So, take out you're wands and I'll pass out a pillow to each of you."  
  
Professor Flitwick rummaged threw an old trunk that he was standing on, and took out some soft, light blue pillows.  
  
"Now, you will say [I]mobiltarbus[/I] (made it up. I was thinkin' of the spell Mobilcorpus and that's where I got it from. Lol), and point it at the pillow!"  
  
"[I]Mobiltarbus! [/I]!" Harry bellowed and the pillow stayed where it was.  
  
"MOBILTARBUS!" Hermione screamed, and the pillow blew up at once.  
  
"Well done, Miss Granger! Here, work on this quill and rusty cauldron!"  
  
"Hermione-"  
  
"What, Ron?"  
  
"If you blow up that quill, you're going to get ink all over you."  
  
"Why would you think that?"  
  
"Well, you're quill now has ink in it, and Seamus' just blew up and he has ink all over him." Lizzy laughed. Harry turned to look at Seamus, and she was right. He was covered in ink.  
  
"Mr. Finnigan," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Please be more careful. Now, the rest of you work on quills and make sure it does [I] not [/I] have ink inside." Hermione held out her quill, and said the spell and it blew up and ink went flying.  
  
"Hermione!" said Niki. "You forgot to see if there was ink inside of it!" Ron gasped.  
  
"Hermione! You forgot something! That's never happened before!"  
  
"Now you know how Neville feels." Lizzy whispered.  
  
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione laughed.  
  
"OW! I GOT INK IN MY EYES!" The Slytherin girl Stephanie screamed.  
  
"SO DID I!" screamed Pansy. "AND IT HURTS LIKE-"  
  
"Ok! Ok! Um.go to the Hospital Wing!" said Professor Flitwick. All of the Gryffindors burst out laughing. The Slytherins glared at them. It was now finally time to head to lunch.  
  
"I think the dance is coming up next week." Said Lizzy.  
  
"Nope, it's 2."  
  
"3!"  
  
"2 weeks." Hermione sniffed, taking out a book.  
  
"Who're you going with?" Lizzy teased.  
  
"No one." Hermione said sadly, tears were trickling down her eyes.  
  
"Herm," said Ron. "Don't fake it! And even if you didn't have a date, you don't need to cry about it!"  
  
"It's not that, Ron!" Hermione shut her book tightly. "You-you wouldn't understand anyway."  
  
"Of course he wouldn't," Lizzy whispered. "He's as dumb as a rock!" Niki hit her in the arm.  
  
"Well, D-Draco s-sort of-"  
  
"He did what, Herm?" Harry asked.  
  
"Cheated on me."  
  
"He did what!"  
  
"Cheated on me! I saw him with Pansy in the halls-"  
  
"Doing what?" Niki asked. Hermione raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh! Well, since he was so rude, give him a nice kick up the a-"  
  
"Niki, that wouldn't help!" Hermione laughed. Lizzy smiled.  
  
"Can I do it for you? PLEASE!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Fine! I'll go over there right now!"  
  
"Lizzy, don't!"  
  
"Ok, ok! I'm not!" Hermione opened her book again, just as Draco was coming to the Gryffindor table hand-in-hand with Pansy. "What do you want?" Hermione said, not even bothering to look at him.  
  
"Nothing from you, Granger." Pansy said.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you, was I?" said Hermione.  
  
"Wait a minute! I thought Draco was with Stephanie!" Lizzy squealed.  
  
"What's it to you? I broke up with you. Besides, it was never any of your business, Mud-"  
  
"Malfoy!" said Harry, standing up immediately. "Say one more word to any of them, and I swear I'll-"  
  
"You'll what? It's true that they're Mudbloods-" Before he could say another word, Harry had punched him in the mouth.  
  
"Whoa! Go, Harry!" said Ron. Harry smiled. Pansy was just about to whack Harry, until Lizzy grabbed her wrist and stopped her.  
  
"You wouldn't want to do that; Professor McGonagall's coming-"  
  
"Yeah right," Pansy mumbled. "AND LET GO OF ME!"  
  
"Why? You were just about to hit Harry!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"So." Pansy hit Lizzy across the head (HAHAHA! This is soo funny! ( ), but just at that moment, Professor McGonagall was striding across the room.  
  
"Miss Parkinson!"  
  
"I swear I didn't do it, Professor! Draco and I were just leaving! They were insulting us and Rich-Lizzy grabbed my wrist for no reason! I tried to get away from her, and I accidentally hit her!" Pansy lied.  
  
"Miss Parkinson, I saw the whole thing! Detention! Tonight!" Pansy scowled, and Professor McGonagall left.  
  
"You'll pay for that!" said Pansy. Lizzy sniggered, and Pansy left.  
  
"So.what've we got next?"  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
About 2 weeks had passed and it was finally Halloween! Gryffindor had won the Quidditch match and might even be in the finals! It was early in the morning and Harry had just woken up.  
  
He got dressed in his robes, grabbed his bag and went down to the Great Hall. A nice smell of pumpkin pie and other sweets filled the corridors. Lizzy came running up to him, looking happy.  
  
"What're you so happy about?" Harry asked her, as she took his hand.  
  
"The dance is tonight! Remember?"  
  
"How could I forget? You've been reminding me for the past 2 weeks." Lizzy giggled.  
  
"Well, come on! The others are in the Great Hall already!" Lizzy and Harry walked into the hall, and yes, the others were sitting at Gryffindor table.  
  
"Excited about the dance, Harry?" Ron asked gloomily. Harry shrugged.  
  
"Who're you going with, Hermione?" Niki asked her.  
  
"I don't know. No one has asked me yet!"  
  
"Well, Neville might! He hasn't asked anyone."  
  
"True.he was going to ask me last year."  
  
"But, I thought Ginny was going with him."  
  
"Then, I'll go alone!" Niki was about to open her mouth to say something, but Ron shook his head, and she kept quiet.  
  
"Do we still have to go to classes today?" Lizzy groaned.  
  
"Yeah," said Hermione. "But they're not that long. Because of the dance."  
  
"Oh, well, that's good!" Lizzy smiled. They picked up their stuff and headed to the Transfiguration classroom.  
  
"And hey, we don't have potions!" said Ron proudly. Harry entered the classroom and they sat down in the second row. The other students piled in and Professor McGonagall came in and stood in front of the class.  
  
"As you all know, we are having the Halloween dance today. As Dumbledore said a few weeks ago, you don't need to wear costumes. Now, no need to get excited, because you still need to concentrate on your work! There will be a list of what time it will start and end in your common rooms. Any questions?" Lizzy raised her hand.  
  
"Miss Richmond?"  
  
"Will we get presents?" she asked, smiling. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Niki started laughing.  
  
"No, I'm sorry you won't, Miss Richmond," Professor McGonagall smiled. "Now, we're going to learn how to turn larger animals into smaller and larger objects." She paused and looked around the room, and continued. "The animals are in a large back room behind this room. I will go get them."  
  
She left the room, went behind the room from her desk, and emerged with lions, tigers, black dogs, and even bears!  
  
"You will tame them at first, then turn them into a needle, then try and turn them into a different animal AFTER you've managed to turn it into a chair, then a desk." Professor McGonagall gave everyone an animal that was on a leash. Harry finally managed to turn a bear into a perfectly fine needle.  
  
"Very good, Mr. Potter. 10 points to Gryffindor, 5 each for Mr. Potter and Miss Granger."  
  
The day had gone by pretty quickly, and it was finally time for the dance. All of the girls were in their dormitories getting ready. Lizzy had put on a light purple dress that was the same as her other one, but a different color. Niki's was dark blue, and the same dress as before, Hermione's was very dark red, and yes.the same type of dress.  
  
"So, how do I look?" Niki asked, turning around.  
  
"You look good!" said Hermione. She shoved Lizzy from in front of the mirror and stood on the stool.  
  
"What's wrong?" Niki asked Lizzy.  
  
"Nothing." she sighed.  
  
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun! And we've got to get going. Harry and Ron are already in the entrance hall, or at the bottom of the stairs."  
  
"Hermione, who're you going with?" Lizzy asked.  
  
"Oh! Seamus Finnigan asked me."  
  
"Cool! I went with him last dance." Said Lizzy.  
  
"Well, I better get going!" said Niki. She left the dormitory, opened the potrait, and walked down the corridors and saw Ron at the end of the stairs. She took his hand, and they left into the Great Hall.  
  
"You coming, Lizzy?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I'll be there in a minute." Said Lizzy. Hermione shrugged and left.  
  
One by one, all of the girls were leaving and Lizzy was soon alone in the dormitory. Finally, she got up and left. The corridors were dark and cold, and she could hear music playing from far away. She saw Harry waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"You look beautiful." he said, staring at her.  
  
"Thanks." Lizzy kissed him, she took his arm, and they walked to the Great Hall.  
  
"Ron, Niki and the others are already in there." Said Harry, looking around for them.  
  
"There they are!" Lizzy pointed out to them. They were sitting on some chairs, watching the other couples dancing.  
  
"Why didn't you guys go dancing yet?" Lizzy asked.  
  
"Waiting for you guys." Niki smiled. 


End file.
